Wounds of the Past
by FoldedHands
Summary: The new world that Madoka created has given hope to the Magical Girls, but not peace. Human nature will not be changed, and not all threats come from Wraiths.
1. Chapter 1

_Nobody can live longer in peace than his neighbor chooses._

-James Branch Cabell, _Jurgen_ -

Mitakihara.

She remembered the first time she had come to the city—back _before_ —and had been awed by the glittering, ultramodern buildings. Everything was shining and beautiful, and she had believed that the city itself was a thing of beauty, not just on the surface but at its very core. She had wanted to live there someday, surrounded by the towering glass structures and the bustling sidewalks.

Now she didn't even notice it. A lifetime had passed between then and now, and the frivolous nature of her childhood self was long gone. She had come to the city out of necessity, and soon she would be moving on again.

There was work to be done, first. She had already made decent headway, but she wasn't ready yet.

She just hoped that this time would go better than the others.

* * *

As soon as she could move, she was going to kill Sayaka.

What had started as gentle nudging had given way to rough shaking, and only Kyoko's drowsiness was preventing her from jumping out of bed and kicking her ass.

"Go 'way," she muttered, trying to hide under the covers and go back to sleep.

"Come on, Kyoko, _now_." Sayaka yanked the blankets off the bed and flipped on the lights, earning a snarl and a string of curses that she ignored. "I can feel them…there are wraiths nearby."

"I don't care! The sun isn't even up!" the redhead snapped, curling into a ball with her head tucked under her arms.

"I'm not leaving you alone until you get up and come with me."

"Go by yourself. I'm going back to sleep."

A note of hesitation crept into her voice. "I don't want to go alone. It's…I think there are a lot of them."

That finally got her girlfriend's attention. She knew that nothing would stop Sayaka from going out there to protect people, and if Sayaka died because she didn't have any backup, Kyoko would never be able to forgive herself. Just the thought made her chest tighten painfully.

"Fine," she growled as she rolled out of bed, squinting heavily as her eyes adjusted to the harsh light and the small hotel room slowly came into focus. She didn't bother with retrieving her clothes from where she had carelessly tossed them the night before; her tank top and briefs changed into a maroon dress in a flash of red light. She paused only to tie her hair back with a black ribbon. A small burst of magic refreshed her body and cleared the fatigue but, like a dose of caffeine, it was no real substitute for sleep and she remained in a sour mood. "You owe me for this. Big time."

Sayaka was already grinning and tugging on her arm. "I'll make it up to you, now let's go!"

"And if we get there and Homura is already mopping them up, I'm going to kick your ass."

* * *

Hunting was a tricky business. Some of the most powerful Wraiths hid themselves in self-contained realms, but often the common ones simply prowled the alleys, abandoned buildings and vacant lots out in the open. Regular people couldn't see them, and the Wraiths nurtured the darkest emotions of people around them so that they could feed on the despair and anger. It made finding them pretty easy. It also made fighting them very hard. The civilians might not have been able to see the Wraiths, but they could see the Magical Girls.

A common way around this problem was to keep an eye on the Wraiths as they fed on those around them, ready to intervene if things started to get out of hand, and then wait for the Wraiths to retreat back to one of the often isolated locations where they stayed after feeding. Even then, Magical Girls had to be fast or the noise would attract attention. Sometimes the hunters would have to cut and run before they had finished killing all of the Wraiths.

It didn't look like that would be the case this time. The Wraiths had congregated in an old, abandoned lot, and the buildings around them were empty at night.

The redhead and blunette didn't waste any time. They charged into the lot and started cutting their way through the weakest creatures. The mayhem slowed as the stronger Wraiths launched a counterattack and the girls were forced to defend themselves.

The number of wraiths gathered in the abandoned lot was tempting, but she didn't let them draw her out. The Grief Cubes that they'd provide could go to the locals. There was so much more benefit in waiting and watching the fight.

She rested on her knees, her legs folded neatly beneath her. The girl's posture was very proper and her expression was that of a demure young maiden. Folded between her hands, almost hidden in the ruffles of her purple skirt, something glinted. Every so often, she tapped her fingernails against it, betraying some impatience.

A frown darkened her pretty face. She had watched a few small fights before this night, sometimes with both of them, sometimes one of them hunting alone, but this was the first time she was able to watch a battle of this magnitude, and what she saw caused her some misgivings. The girls didn't merely fight well together—they were exceptional. They certainly weren't rookies, and the only way they could have attained such a level of coordination was if they had fought together frequently. That could be troublesome.

All the more reason to stay out of sight for now.

* * *

Wraiths couldn't stumble, per se, as they didn't actually have legs. What the creature did, as Kyoko dove in low and Sayaka sprang for its head, was closer to an indecisive shifting as it tried to react to two threats at once. Its hesitation was ended when Sayaka's sword sliced through its mouth, neatly severing its head at the jawline.

The satisfaction of the kill was short lived. Something struck her dead center in the back, and she felt as though the skin where she had been hit was crinkling and burning away like old paper. The black magic of the wraiths took many forms—this one was corrosive. Sayaka blocked out most of the pain, but the force of the blast still left her staggered. She turned to try to defend herself, knew she was in trouble as she saw the wraith already following up with another attack.

A golden chain wrapped around the abomination, binding its arms to its sides, and the dark energy that it had been summoning fizzled out. The wraith's form wavered, becoming no less substantial but seeming to occupy multiple places at the same time, and the links shattered. In the few seconds it took to free itself, however, the damage had been done. Sayaka drove her sword into its lower body, edge facing the sky, and, with a powerful wrench, sliced a path up through its torso and out its shoulder.

The wraith shuddered; Sayaka leapt back from it just in time to avoid a cloud of oily, black essence that flowed from the clean cut. The miasma separated into wisps that curled into nonexistence, and as more of it drained from the wraith, the unnerving distortion that covered its face spread across its body. Seconds after Sayaka had struck the fatal blow, the wraith shimmered out of existence. Several black cubes clattered on the ground.

With the last enemy dead, all of the magical energy that she kept in reserve while fighting drained away as her healing began to work in overdrive. The tattered skin on her back was replaced with fresh, undamaged tissue. Her cracked ribs sealed perfectly; they would show no signs of ever having been broken, even under x-ray imaging. Sayaka breathed a sigh of relief as the pain faded, leaving her feeling only tired. She groaned…she had school in a few hours. For a brief moment she wished she had listened to her girlfriend and stayed in bed. She let her Magical Girl uniform disappear, glad that she had taken the time to get dressed.

"What's the matter, baby? Tired?" The mocking voice in her ear made her jump. Kyoko was leaning on her spear just behind her, mouth twisted into a smug smirk that could either infuriate Sayaka or set her heart racing. "Must be…you were sloppy back there."

She desperately hoped that Kyoko wouldn't keep her from returning to bed out of spite. Kyoko could sleep for the rest of the day, while Sayaka would already have a hard time staying awake in class. "Uh, yeah…c'mon, Kyoko. Let's get back to the hotel so we can sleep."

Kyoko didn't respond until she had finished gathering up the Grief Cubes and dumped them into a pouch in her dress. Then she lightly cuffed Sayaka's shoulder before slinging her arm around it and starting off in the direction of their rented room. "You owe me," Kyoko reminded her, "and you're lucky sleep is at the top of my list right now, or I'd make you pay up before I let you rest."

Sayaka lay her head on Kyoko's shoulder as they walked. "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd pick something over food or sex," she quipped, unable to resist teasing her but hoping that she hadn't just changed Kyoko's mind about wanting sleep the most.

The redhead scowled and opened her mouth to retort, but froze before she had a chance to say anything. Sayaka might have kept walking for another second but Kyoko threw an arm out protectively across her chest. Her eyes were narrowed in focus on something out beyond the edge of the lot. In an instant, Sayaka was clad in her Magical Girl attire again and had a sword in each hand.

"What is it?" she murmured as quietly as she could. Kyoko slowly shook her head, eyes never leaving the spot that she was fixated on.

"Something's…" She trailed off, not sure of how to finish the statement. Was there something there? Wraiths hid themselves from normal people, but either didn't bother or couldn't when it came to Magical Girls—no wraith she'd ever come across, at least. But Wraiths weren't the only dangers. She couldn't yet place it, but she had a bad feeling. If it wasn't Wraiths, there was only one other possibility…

"Come on. You need to rest." Sayaka tenderly brushed Kyoko's hair off of her forehead. "You're still on edge from the fight. We both need to sleep."

It was a few more tense seconds before she tore her eyes away from the alley across the street. "Yeah…yeah, I just need to sleep. Let's get going." She hurried Sayaka ahead of her, and resisted the urge to look back. She knew that this feeling wasn't because she was tired, and it wasn't because she still had some adrenaline buzzing through her veins. Sayaka knew it, too.

But if her suspicions were correct, neither of them were in the shape for it at the moment.

* * *

She watched them leave, still astonished that the redhead had seen her. There was more to that girl than she had thought. She would have to be careful.

Far from reassuring her, observing the two tonight had left her with misgivings. The redhead putting her arm around the other girl's shoulders, the blunette resting her head on the red girl's collar…they were more than just hunting partners, more, even, than friends. She felt a sharp pang in her heart. She hoped, more than ever, that they would be reasonable.

She would give them a chance, as she always did. She would try to make them see reason. If they didn't, well…

There was no evil in defending herself.

* * *

A/N: This is a story that I've been working on for months now. It was originally going to be a one-shot, but grew out of necessity, and grew far beyond what I had ever imagined until it became the longest story I've put on here. While I was writing, I realized that I can't be trusted to finish writing stories in a timely fashion, so here's the thing: the whole story is finished. There's still some editing to be done, but everything between the beginning and end has been filled in.

I will be uploading a chapter every Wednesday until it's finished.

Also, unlike some of the other times I used an M rating, this one fully deserves it. There will be graphic violence and sex later on (not at the same time, of course). If that bothers anyone, then I suggest skipping this story.

That's it for now. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

When the alarm buzzed and woke both of them up, Kyoko got a smug sense of satisfaction from being able to roll over and doze while Sayaka had to drag herself out of bed and get ready for school. It was a fitting punishment for forcing her out of bed at four in the fucking morning. She was gracious enough to not rub it in as Sayaka stumbled around the room, bleary eyed and probably miserable.

But there was something buzzing in the corners of her mind…something she probably should have taken care of when they got back, but they were both so tired that they had barely made it back to the hotel before collapsing, and there had been very little time left before Sayaka had to get up for school. They had both fallen asleep as soon as they got into bed.

Whatever it was, it could wait until Sayaka was back from school and she was really awake. They weren't hunting today, and Sayaka's parents thought she'd still be at Hitomi's place tonight, so they'd have plenty of time to hang out.

"I'll see you later today, Kyo. Sorry again about ruining your night's sleep."

As Sayaka bent down and kissed her brow, something clicked in her mind and a jolt shot through her whole body, leaving her heart racing. Her hand shot out and clamped onto Sayaka's wrist as she turned to leave.

"Augh! Kyoko, let go, I'm going to be—" Sayaka fell silent at the look on her girlfriend's face.

"Sayaka, listen. Did anything feel off to you last night? After the fight?"

She searched her girlfriend's face and felt a chill run up her spine. Kyoko had had a similar expression just after they finished killing the Wraiths. "Does this have something to do with whatever made you tense when we were leaving?"

Kyoko nodded. "I didn't want to talk out in the open, but I should have said something when we got back here…" She shook her head. "Look, Sayaka…I think there was another Magical Girl there. Out of sight."

She didn't know what she had expected, but Kyoko's statement made her skin prickle. "Why didn't she approach us?"

The redhead grimaced. "Best case scenario, she's just being cautious because she doesn't know whether we're friends or enemies. Worst case—"

"Enemies?" Sayaka interjected. "Why would we be enemies?"

Kyoko grimaced and kneaded her forehead with her palm. "Baby…you know that you and Mami are the exception, not the rule, right? Most Magical Girls are pretty self-serving, and—"

"But there are plenty of Wraiths for all of us to hunt!"

"—and Magical Girls are still just people. Some of them are nice, most of them just want to get by, and some of them are assholes. Even when there are enough Grief Cubes for everyone, it doesn't always work out nicely. Some girls don't like the idea of others in their territory. Some are just fucked in the head." Kyoko took a deep breath, pushing away the memories that lingered in the darker corners of her mind. "It's never safe to assume that an unfamiliar Puella is an ally. Which brings me back to the other reason she might have been watching us: to size us up, see how we fight."

"You think she might be hostile?" Sayaka bit her lip. "I don't think I could fight another one of us."

Kyoko didn't point out that Sayaka had readily fought her when they first met. That had been her own fault; she used to be one of the "assholes." Instead, she reached out to put a comforting hand on Sayaka's shoulder. "I don't know what she is. All I'm saying is, be careful. And…you probably shouldn't go out today."

Sayaka's eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs. "Kyoko, I can't just skip school. Unless one of my parents calls in to say that I can't come, they'll call my house. My parents will find out that I cut school, and then they'll call Hitomi's place and find out that I didn't spend the last couple of nights there. They'll _kill_ me." Sayaka took a step towards the door. "If you think we don't get to do this often enough as it is, wait until I'm grounded for two months." Kyoko opened her mouth to argue, but couldn't think of anything to say. Sayaka pressed on. "Besides, what about Homura? Someone needs to warn her, and she's too far away for telepathy."

Kyoko waved a hand as if that concern was barely worth discussing. "So send her a text. She can take care of herself."

Sayaka's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And I can't?"

She swung her legs out of the bed and stood, matching Sayaka's glare. "Don't do that. Don't turn this conversation into something it's not. You want me to say it? Fine. I care a lot more about your safety than Homura's. And we don't know who this girl is, what she wants, or what she's capable of—all we know is that she was watching us fight last night and didn't want us to see her."

Sayaka's expression softened. "Kyoko…are you sure about this? You don't think you might have been mistaken?"

The redhead didn't answer at first. She thought back to a few hours ago, how tired she was and how dark the alley had been…

"No. I know what I saw. I didn't get a good look at her, but there was someone there, and not just some bum." She had learned a long time ago to trust her instincts, and that they usually turned out right. "Please…just stay with me today. We'll figure something out about your parents."

Sayaka took Kyoko's hand and kissed her forehead, and for a moment Kyoko thought she might have changed her mind; the next instant, she turned away again to leave. "I understand how you feel, Kyo, but I can't just skip school. I'm just going there and back, surrounded by other students most of the time. It's not like I'm going patrolling alone at night. And I'll tell Homura about it and see what she thinks." She opened the door and stepped out. "I really have to go now," she said, forestalling further arguments. "I'm going to have to run to make it in time."

After the door closed, Kyoko fell back into bed with her hands over her eyes, teeth gritted in frustration. Sayaka didn't get it. She had never fought other Magical Girls, except for their brief duel when they had first met. Despite how hard Kyoko had tried to impress it upon her, Sayaka just didn't understand how careful you had to be around unknown Puella. How vicious some of them could be.

If Sayaka thought that all hostile Puella Magi would be like Kyoko, she was in for a harsh lesson.

Kyoko didn't trust strange Magical Girls, didn't let her guard down when they were around. That's why she was still alive, and the ones who had been stupid enough to cross blades with her weren't.

A long, self-concerned groan turned into a frustrated snarl and she kicked the sheets off. Why couldn't the stupid brat just miss one day of school? One day! If she'd let Kyoko use her illusion magic on her parents then they wouldn't have to be sneaking around in the first place, and she wouldn't have to worry about being caught for truancy. Kyoko had been looking forward to going back to sleep for the rest of the day. Now she had to put on pants and follow Sayaka to make sure nothing hurt her while she was alone.

It wasn't enough that she couldn't sleep through the night because of Sayaka; now she couldn't even catch up on that lost sleep because of her.

Or take time to get some breakfast.

As she pulled on her shorts and green hoodie, her bad mood rapidly shifted towards foul.

* * *

Homura sat in silence for so long that Sayaka started to get fidgety. _'Well…what do you think?'_

The black haired girl didn't look at her, seeming to pay rapt attention to what the teacher was saying (some new nonsense about her doomed romantic life). Sayaka never understood how Homura made it look like she was focused on class while carrying on a full conversation across the mental link.

' _I think that you should trust Kyoko's instincts on this. If she believes that not only is there a newcomer, but that she is a threat, we must be on our guard.'_

' _Homura…you don't really think she's our enemy? Kyoko's just being paranoid, right?'_

Homura actually turned to look her directly in the eye. _'Sayaka…for better or worse, Kyoko has more experience than anyone else in Mitakihara when it comes to fighting other Magical Girls. Even if Mami was still in the city, she wouldn't surpass Kyoko's knowledge.'_ She saw the pain in Sayaka's eyes and felt a twinge of sympathy for her peer; if she had had to come to terms with Madoka having killed an unknown number of Puella Magi before they had met she would have felt sick. _'I don't mean to dig up the past…but Kyoko knows what she's talking about. Whatever her intuition tells her, we would do well to listen.'_ She returned her attention to the front of the classroom before the silent stare between them attracted attention.

Homura's experience with fighting Witches across the countless timelines translated well into the new fight against Wraiths, making her the expert in that area. But she had never encountered other Magical Girls outside of her four companions—three, now. And, unfortunately, Madoka's wish may have given the Puella Magi hope, but it didn't take away the darker aspects of human nature that they were still prey to. Kyoko's initial attempt to kill Sayaka was proof of that. Even without the competition over Grief Seeds, Magical Girls were still almost as likely to turn on each other as before, and Kyoko knew better than any of them how to defend against others.

' _What about Kyubey?'_ Sayaka's voice broke in on her thoughts. _'He could tell us about this girl so we'd know whether or not she's our enemy. Maybe he could convince her to move on, or that we don't want to fight.'_

' _No. The Kyubey that you know is much more helpful than the one that I dealt with, but one thing hasn't changed: he never gets involved in problems between Puella Magi.'_

' _So, what do we do?'_

' _For now, just be on your guard. This stranger may not be here to make trouble, or she may be looking to eliminate competition in the area.'_

' _I don't know, Homura…I don't want to just assume that she's dangerous…'_

' _Of course she's dangerous.'_ At Sayaka's look, she continued, _'We all are. Whether or not she is a threat remains to be seen. No one is suggesting that we hunt her down. But until we know more, we have to be careful.'_ She fixed Sayaka with a piercing gaze. _'If you aren't going to take this matter seriously, then at the very least stay close to Kyoko on your patrols.'_

* * *

Sayaka had reached her school without incident, so Kyoko took the time to get food and hit the arcade. Her time might have been better spent catching up on sleep, but now that she was out and about, she didn't have any inclination to go back to her room and lie down. And she didn't want to risk oversleeping and missing Sayaka as she left school. Kyoko didn't have to worry about Sayaka until she was traveling. And she didn't have to worry about being out by herself, because she knew what she was dealing with…and had enough sense to keep to public areas with lots of traffic.

The stranger would have to be insane to start trouble in front of dozens of witnesses.

"Excuse me…Kyoko, I believe?"

Kyoko stiffened. She had to fight down the urge to spin around and lash out; she needed to be calm, in control. But she couldn't ignore the shock that she felt…she hadn't even felt the girl's presence.

"Hold on a second, I've almost got this." She kept her attention on the video game she was playing, feigning indifference and not even bothering to glance at the girl. Inside, her mind was racing.

 _If she was going to kill me, she wouldn't be saying hi to me first. I'm safe for the moment. She won't risk exposure in such a crowded area. Play it cool, Kyoko. It may be a long time since you've fought another Magical Girl, but you're no pushover._

After beating her computer opponent in the fighting game, she turned coolly towards the stranger. "Yeah?" she asked dismissively, but her feigned attitude slipped a little as she got a good look at the newcomer.

The girl in front of her was…there was no way around it, she was _beautiful_. Just a little shorter than Kyoko, but taller than Sayaka. Her eyes were a rich purple, while her wavy hair was a much lighter shade of the color, almost white with a faint hint of purple. Her face had an attractive heart shape to it, and her pink lips looked soft…

She was the prettiest girl Kyoko had ever seen, even prettier (her insides gave a guilty squirm) than Sayaka.

 _Stupid. Pull yourself together. Don't let your guard down just because she's a babe._

Her lapse of concentration lasted only seconds, and then she was wary again. "What do you want?"

In response, the stranger, who had been watching her carefully, raised the back of her hand. Kyoko saw the tiny purple oval on her fingernail and the gem set in the ring on her finger and snorted. "I already know that. What do you want?"

If the stranger was bothered by her attitude, she didn't show it. "My name is Reiko," she said serenely. "I would like to speak with you." She glanced around at the deafening arcade. "Somewhere quieter."

Kyoko's expression remained neutral, but red flags were shooting up in her head. "Sure. We can talk in the food court." The other girl nodded her assent and left without another word, leaving Kyoko to follow warily.

Quiet enough to have a conversation, loud enough that they wouldn't be overheard, and plenty of people around. Kyoko wasn't taking chances with this one.

"So…?" she asked once they had settled.

Reiko folded her hands in her lap and took a deep breath. It made her look so sweet and innocent…Kyoko suppressed that thought and stayed on her guard.

"I want the same thing that you do. I want to know whether you're friend or foe. To know if I can walk and hunt in this city without having to always look over my shoulder."

 _She's got a lot of nerve, coming into our territory with that attitude._

"Well, if that's all, then you can relax. We don't have any interest in fighting you. There are only three of us in the city right now. Used to be four, but the other one went off to university this year. Shouldn't be a problem having four again."

"But would you feel comfortable hunting when there's a stranger around, not knowing if she might come after you when you're vulnerable?" When Kyoko didn't respond, she nodded. "Nor would I. And you have me outnumbered three to one."

Kyoko leaned her chair back to look relaxed and carefree, but kept a close eye on Reiko. "What would be the point? None of us are hurting for Cubes."

"Magical Girls have turned on each other in spite of this in the past. I think you know this well."

The redhead scowled. "So leave. Go somewhere else if you're so worried that we'll kill you."

Reiko shook her head. "Where would I go? Wherever there are Wraiths, there are Magical Girls."

"That's your problem. You're the one deciding that you can't be in the same city with another one. But, if I was going to humor you, what would you suggest as a solution?"

"Nothing too difficult. Just that the three of you leave Mitakihara for a few weeks."

The silence stretched on as Kyoko stared openly at her, stunned by her audacity. "You are out of your goddamn mind."

"It's only temporary. Just gather some Cubes and leave for a little while. After I've replenished my supply of Cubes, I'll move on and that will be the end of it."

"And if we don't?"

Reiko sighed softly, looking weary. "Then I fear the conflict that we both say we don't want will be inevitable."

Kyoko tipped forward and the front legs of her chair returned to the floor with a loud bang, causing some other patrons to look over. She leaned onto the table, staring Reiko down. "This is our home. Our territory! We're not going to be driven out by some pretty twit because she doesn't want to play nice with others!"

Reiko shook her head sadly. "I was hoping you would see sense. I wish to avoid conflict." She stood and smoothed the front of her skirt. "I sincerely hope that you reconsider. Forgive me for saying this, but your blue-haired friend seems the more level headed of the two of you. Perhaps she will change your mind."

Kyoko stood, too, but not slowly and calmly. Her chair clattered against the floor as it tipped over, drawing the startled gazes of a few dozen other patrons. Her voice was low, but there was no mistaking the fire in it.

"Stay the hell away from her. You can hunt here all you want, but if you try anything with her I will make you regret it."

Reiko met her eyes and held them for a long time. What Kyoko saw made her uneasy. She was calm, purposeful, but there was something more bitter there. …Remorse?

The girl bowed to Kyoko. "Until we meet again, then. And I beg of you…consider what I said."

Kyoko watched her go, an intense dislike mixing with a sense of looming danger.

* * *

The long, miserable day was finally over. Sayaka trudged alongside her classmates, barely able to keep her eyes open. Right now, though she would never admit it, she wished she had listened to Kyoko and gone back to sleep. Trying to make sense of the arbitrary and sometimes contradictory rules of the English language while sleep deprived was one of the worst experiences of her life.

She groaned. Justice never slept…

"Are you okay, Sayaka? You've looked terrible all day."

Sayaka glanced at Hitomi. "Thanks…I just need to sleep. I was too busy last night to sleep much."

It took her addled mind nearly ten seconds to notice the awkward silence that had fallen. Hitomi was staring askance at her for some reason, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"What? Why are you—"

Something clicked and a blush spread rapidly across Sayaka's face. "No! I didn't mean—I was finishing homework that I had put off until the last minute."

Homura coughed in polite disbelief as she walked by them and Sayaka shot her a furious look.

' _You know very well what I was doing!'_

' _Yes, I do. It wasn't homework. Any other conclusions that Hitomi might draw are none of my doing.'_

She was trying to think of a retort and keep the pause in conversation with Hitomi from turning into another awkward silence when she was spared both by a shout.

"Hey, Sayaka!"

She started as a familiar but very unexpected voice sounded from close by. "Kyoko?" _'What are you doing here?'_

' _We need to talk. Now.'_ Kyoko was drawing close, grinning like she was just happy to see her girlfriend but, even without the tone of her mental voice, Sayaka could tell that something was wrong. _'You too, Homes.'_

' _I told you never to call me that again,'_ came the smooth reply.

Before that exchange could go any further, Kyoko reached Sayaka and Hitomi. "Sup, Hitomi. Thanks for covering for my little lovebird," she said with a mischievous grin.

Hitomi's face turned pink; Sayaka's, red. _'Don't,'_ she warned.

Kyoko glanced at Sayaka and decided that embarrassing her in front of her friend wasn't worth it. Not when she needed to have a serious talk with her immediately.

"Sorry, Hitomi, but I'm going to steal Sayaka now. And, really, thanks for helping us out." _'It's the least she can do after stabbing you in the back,'_ Kyoko added solely to Sayaka.

' _Will you stop bringing that up? That was three years ago. You are honestly the only person that still thinks about it.'_

Hitomi still looked uncomfortable but smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sayaka. It was nice to see you again, Kyoko. And, erm…try to leave enough time to do tomorrow's homework, Sayaka," she added, making her friend grimace.

Once she had gone, Sayaka raised a questioning eyebrow at her girlfriend, but Kyoko shook her head. _'Not here. Homura, we should go to your place. We can talk once we get there.'_

* * *

The three girls sat in silence after Kyoko had finished recounting her run in with Reiko. The bank of high-tech, flat screen monitors that hung suspended around the room were lifeless. Homura wasn't sure why she still bothered with them; she no longer needed them to help her collate information on the Witches that had inhabited the month she had lived over and over. She supposed she was simply used to them.

Sayaka was the first to speak. "So that's it, then? We're just going to accept that she's our enemy and give up on trying to talk to her? Are we going to just track her down and kill her for being in our territory?" Her voice shook on the last sentence, not with fear or revulsion, but anger.

Kyoko stared at her, brows knitted. A few years ago, she would have done exactly that. Reiko had made her intentions pretty clear; the smart thing to do would be to take her down before she had a chance to hurt them. But she wasn't that person anymore, and never wanted to be again. And the reason was right next to her, shaking with barely suppressed anger at the idea that they should kill one of their kin.

"No." Both Sayaka and Homura looked at her in surprise. "What?" she asked irritably. "She expects us to attack her. She's sure of it. We go hunt her down, we're only justifying her mindset. Best thing to do is stay away from her. Doesn't sound like she plans to be around for very long."

Homura inclined her head at Kyoko in acknowledgement. "But you believe she is a threat."

"Yeah, I do. She pretty much told me that if we didn't leave she would kill us. We need to stay on our guard, and stay together. She'll leave, or she'll make the first move." Kyoko turned her gaze on Sayaka and there was fire in her eyes. "And if she does, I _will_ kill her."

Sayaka held her stare for a moment before looking away. "I hope it doesn't come to that."

The redhead looked back at Homura. "Look…I don't think it would be a good idea for us to go back where we were. That chick was following us, and for all we know she's waiting near the hotel. Mind if we crash here, Homes?"

A muscle twitched in her jaw, but she maintained a neutral expression. "Certainly. I have a spare futon that I will bring out here. However, if you should happen to disturb me with your nightly activities, I will seek out this Reiko and tell her where to find you."

After she had left to prepare something for dinner so that they could sleep early, Sayaka turned to Kyoko, her brow furrowed. "She's joking, right?"

"I…think so." She stared after Homura for a long moment. "We might have been safer going back to the hotel."

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I don't think those images that are floating around Homura's place are exactly flat screen monitors, but I don't know what the hell they're supposed to be. So, high tech monitors it is.

This chapter is a little weak in places, but no matter how many times I went over it I couldn't think of anything to add. I apologize if the story is dull so far. It will pick up.

See ya next Wednesday.


	3. Chapter 3

Something wasn't right. She was warm and reasonably comfortable, but that wasn't as important as what was missing. Kyoko reached for Sayaka to pull her close to her again and go back to sleep, but she wasn't near enough. Still on the verge of sleep, she groped around in the dark to find her.

Nothing.

She had never woken up so fast in her life. Kyoko rolled off of the futon and hit the light switch, growling as the sudden light hit her dilated pupils. She quickly scanned the room through watering eyes.

Sayaka was gone.

Panic grew in her chest and wrapped icy fingers around her heart. In seconds she had pulled her hoodie over her tank top and stepped into her cut off shorts. She was out the door in a flash—

—and nearly ran into Sayaka on the doorstep.

"Kyoko? What's wrong?" Sayaka asked, clearly alarmed.

The redhead stared blankly at her, trying to find the right words. The initial shock of finding her right outside was slowly being replaced by embarrassment at her now-apparent overreaction. "Uh, nothing. I woke up and…you weren't there." Her embarrassment deepened with the incredulous smirk on Sayaka's face, but indignation also started to bubble up inside of her. "What?" she snapped, a little harsher than she had meant to. "You scared me half to death!"

Sayaka sensed danger and tried to head it off quickly. Before the redhead could get herself worked up, she had stepped forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Kyo," she said, using her affectionate name for her girlfriend to help calm her down. "I didn't think about it…if I woke up and you weren't around while this Reiko is out there, I probably would have panicked, too."

"Yeah, well…just don't do that again. Idiot." But Kyoko hugged her back almost immediately, and her words lacked any actual anger. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

Sayaka didn't speak at first. When she did, she stepped away from Kyoko and avoided her eyes. "Just thinking. About…all of this." She leaned against the wall of the building and tipped her head back to look up at the stars. "I don't understand it, Kyoko. Why would Magical Girls turn on each other? Why is Reiko so sure that we'll try to kill her that she wants to kill us first?"

"Because I've seen it before, Miki Sayaka."

Kyoko reacted before Sayaka could even process what was going on. There was a flash of red light, and then she was pushed back against the door with Kyoko shielding her, spear held defensively across her own chest.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped, and Sayaka was alarmed to hear an undercurrent of fear in her voice. She could tell from the tension in Kyoko's whole body that she was on the verge of attacking, and tried in vain to force her aside.

"I haven't come to fight, Sakura-san. I wanted to speak with Miki-san like I spoke with you. May I?"

"Kyoko," Sayaka whispered in her ear. "Get out of the way. I can take care of myself." When she didn't budge, Sayaka sighed in exasperation. "I am going to try to bring a peaceful resolution to this, and you are not going to stop me." A flash of blue, and then Kyoko felt an arm that was much stronger than it had been a moment before push her aside.

Sayaka stepped out from behind her would-be bodyguard and saw the stranger at last. She was a little taller than herself, a little shorter than Kyoko, and stunningly pretty, with silvery-purple hair and a pleasant expression. But there was a guarded, pained look in her eyes…a look she had seen before, when Kyoko tried to warn her about the path she was on and had told her about her family. Reiko stood across the street from them, just barely illuminated by the street light on her side. Sayaka walked to the edge of the sidewalk and stopped, leaving the street between them; she did not summon her weapon as Kyoko had. Well aware that Kyoko was at her back, she bowed to Reiko.

Reiko smiled and returned the bow, then folded her hands together and sighed. "I had hoped to talk to you alone, as I had with Sakura-san, but—"

"Forget it. You can talk to her right here."

Sayaka shot a glare over her shoulder, then returned her attention to the stranger. She would have to handle this carefully.

"Your name is Reiko, right? What did you want to talk to me about?"

Reiko held her hands out in a general gesture of non-hostility. "I don't want to fight any more than you do. But I fear that if we attempt to coexist in this city, it will be inevitable. If you truly wish for a peaceful resolution, then you must leave the city until I have moved on. Two weeks should be enough time to replenish my supply of Grief Cubes, then I will move on and trouble you no further."

Sayaka had struggled to maintain a neutral expression, and was only partly successful in keeping her incredulity from showing. _Kyoko really wasn't exaggerating…_ But she had to try to resolve this.

"I can't just leave for weeks, Reiko. I'd be expelled from school and my parents would _kill_ me. There has to be another way for us to solve this. There's no reason to fight."

Reiko shook her head, purple curls bouncing in the dim light. Sayaka found it entrancing and had to force her attention back to the matter at hand. "I understand your concerns, but I'm afraid I must insist." She held up a hand to forestall Sayaka's protest. "Please, believe me when I say that everything you could suggest as an alternative I have tried in the past, and each time I have been forced to fight for my life. I no longer take unnecessary risks." She glanced between them and was silent for a moment. "The two of you are unusual…I've never come across Puella Magi as close as the two of you are." Kyoko scowled, but there was no mockery or scorn in Reiko's voice. "I would like to believe that you are different, that I could trust you…but experience has taught me that I can't."

Sayaka's heart sank. She couldn't meet Reiko's demands, and the girl wouldn't accept anything else. "This is my home. I have nowhere to go, and no way to get out of school or convince my parents to let me leave. I can't do what you want."

"And I'm not going anywhere without Sayaka," Kyoko cut in.

Reiko closed her eyes and nodded, seeming resigned. There was a quick flash of purple light and when it had cleared she stood in her battle garb. Kyoko shouldered past Sayaka and raised her spear defensively, but the outsider made no move to attack.

"So be it. I still hold hope that you will reconsider, but this is the last time we will speak of it."

Before either of them could respond, she stepped back, away from the street, and launched herself to the top of the nearest building. In an instant, she had vanished into the dark.

Kyoko looked sideways at Sayaka. "Told ya."

When Sayaka turned to face her, any other reprimands that Kyoko had been thinking of died on her tongue. Sayaka looked truly shaken. She put her hand on her girl's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Come on. Let's go back inside."

They let their magical outfits fade as they walked through the door, Sayaka barely paying attention to what she was doing.

"So, that's who we have to watch out for."

The cool, even voice made Sayaka jump. She hadn't even noticed Homura standing right next to the door until she had spoken.

The raven haired girl seemed amused by Sayaka's reaction. "Kyoko woke me as soon as Reiko appeared. We decided that it would be best if I remained out of sight unless she became hostile."

Sayaka shot a frown at Kyoko, who only shrugged. "Didn't include you because you were talking to Reiko. You can't even look like you're paying attention in class while talking to Homes; how were you going to hold two conversations at once?"

She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again with a surly shrug. Kyoko watched her for another moment before turning back to Homura. "So, what do ya think?"

"She's dangerous. Paranoid and delusional—as the two of you found, trying to reason with her is utterly futile. However, I think your judgment here counts for more than mine. I only ever knew the two of you, Mami, and…well. My experience with other Magi is quite limited."

Kyoko put her arms behind her head and blew out a sigh as she dropped into a chair. "I think she means business. If we don't do what she wants, things will probably get ugly." She rubbed a hand over her eyes, feeling more exhausted than could be explained by a simple lack of sleep. "But I still don't think we should try to hunt her down. We stay on our guard, but we ignore her completely and hope she fucks off on her own."

Their host raised an eyebrow. "You think that's the best course of action?"

She laughed, bitter. "No, I think it's fucking stupid. Just pretending a threat isn't out there is a good way to get your throat cut. But I can only see three choices: do what she wants, which we can't, hunt her down and kill her, which we won't, or stay out of her way and hope she leaves…which she might."

Sayaka felt her throat tighten. Three years ago, Kyoko would have fought Reiko without a second's hesitation as soon as the intruder made it clear she was a threat. Three years ago, she, Sayaka, would have fought Reiko as soon as she determined that the girl was "evil" and a danger to innocent people. Now, both of them were trying to find ways to avoid bloodshed.

What had Kyoko said to her, way back then?

That she liked the stories where truth and justice prevailed.

She reached out and slipped her fingers through Kyoko's. The redhead glanced at her, a little surprised, and studied her face. Sayaka saw understanding and sympathy in those maroon eyes.

"Come here." Kyoko gathered Sayaka into her arms and held her tightly. "It'll be okay. Everything will turn out okay. We just watch each other's backs until Reiko decides to move on, and then everything goes back to normal."

"Yeah…it'll be fine."

Kyoko tilted her head a little; Sayaka said the words, but there was no conviction in them. She could tell that her own words hadn't fully reached Sayaka. What the girl needed now was something to take her mind off of it. Slowly, as an idea took root, a devious smile spread across her face.

"Come on, Saya-baby…let's go back to the hotel." At the alarmed look on her face, Kyoko continued, "We'll be fine. We can get a cab, so we won't be out in the open. She's not crazy enough to break into a hotel and attack us—if she does come after us, it will be when we're isolated." She winked at Sayaka. "Besides, we don't want to take advantage of Homura's hospitality, right?"

' _Come on, baby…you still owe me, remember?'_

Sayaka closed her eyes and sighed in exasperation, but Kyoko saw the hint of a smile on her lips. "Yeah, I guess we'll go spend the rest of the night at the hotel. It was paid for already, after all. Thanks for letting us stay here, Homura."

"Yep! Thanks for letting us crash here, Homes!"

Homura remained stony-faced during this exchange, and Kyoko got the impression that she found their nonsense tiresome. "I suppose I should consider myself fortunate that you aren't crass enough to defile my living room with your lust." This wiped the grin off of Kyoko's face and turned Sayaka scarlet. Homura's expression changed at last as she gave them one of her rare smirks. "Enjoy the rest of your night."

A moment later, she had returned to her serious, humorless self. "And, Kyoko…Sayaka…be careful."

* * *

She watched as they left the house of their friend, the third Magical Girl that she knew far too little about, and got into a taxi that was waiting. Smart, to avoid traveling in the open to wherever they were going.

She could follow them. Ambush them as soon as the cab drove away, or wait until they were sleeping to strike. But she still held hope, faint though it was, that she had left a strong enough impression that they would reconsider her offer.

She did not want to kill them. Especially not while they sought comfort in each other's arms. She would give them a few days to think it over.

After that, she would do what she must.

* * *

A/N: Shorter chapter today, sorry about that. Next week's content will be rather explicit, though I think I kept it tasteful. If that's not your thing, you can easily skip it and won't miss a single thing of importance. So, yes, next week's chapter is pointless.

Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

The good thing about returning to their room in the middle of the night was that there were no people in the lobby, the corridors…the elevator. Kyoko didn't even wait for the doors to close before pressing Sayaka against the wall and locking lips with her. Concerns about Reiko stubbornly clung to her mind and she was a little unresponsive as the elevator moved to their floor, but it was hard to stay fixated on their problems when a gorgeous redhead was taking such an enthusiastic interest in her body. By the time the elevator doors dinged open, Sayaka had one arm around Kyoko's waist, the other up the front of her shirt, and was kissing her back passionately.

They broke apart long enough to head down the hallway to their room, hands tightly clasped as though they couldn't bear to be separated. It was their last night together for who knew how long? Hitomi was a saint for helping them as much as she did, especially since it caused the prudish girl some measure of discomfort. But they couldn't expect her to do this often for them, and even if she could and would, it wouldn't take long for Sayaka's parents to become suspicious.

They had to make the most of this while they could.

With that new thought burning the last concerns about Reiko out of her head, Sayaka took both of Kyoko's hands as soon as the door to their room was open and led her to the bed. "You're right, you know. I do still owe you for dragging you out of bed last night."

The redhead grinned and flopped onto the bed. "So, how are you going to make it up to me?"

Her girlfriend leaned down slowly and pressed a finger to Kyoko's lips. "You'll see." A light blush suffused Kyoko's face and her heart started beating faster. Sayaka had something special in mind.

She knelt on the edge of the bed and started a slow strip, teasing Kyoko with hints of bare flesh at first before pulling her sweater and blouse off. Kyoko sat up to help her get undressed, but Sayaka gently pushed her back down with a wink. She turned away from her girlfriend and unclasped her bra, swaying her bare back for a few seconds before letting the undergarment fall to the floor. Feeling Kyoko's eyes on her, she pulled her shoes and socks off before hooking her thumbs into the waistband of her skirt and panties and slowly, teasingly, easing them down her hips.

A low intake of breath told Sayaka that her girlfriend was enjoying the show. Even after having seen each other naked more times than they could count, they could still drive each other crazy just by showing a little skin.

She turned to face Kyoko and could see that the seduction routine was having quite an effect on her. A familiar hunger burned in her deep red eyes, a look that might have disturbed an outsider but only made Sayaka feel wanted. She crawled onto the bed, having stirred up her girlfriend's desire enough and ready to move forward.

The blunette slinked up to her and starting kissing her belly as her hands went straight to the button of Kyoko's shorts. The redhead had already taken off her shoes, socks and hoodie, but had left the rest of her clothes for Sayaka. She wasted no time in undoing the button and zipper and slid Kyoko's shorts down her thighs slowly, taking her underwear with them. Kyoko ached for her, but knew how the game was played. When her lover was in a sensual mood, they took things slow. She bit back her impatience each time because it always paid off in the end.

Sayaka finally slipped the shorts off, leaving Kyoko wearing nothing but her black tank top. She flushed as Sayaka's eyes trailed slowly up her thighs to the place where they met, but Sayaka had seen her naked a hundred times and Kyoko had long since gotten over any self consciousness that she had felt. Now, the blue haired beauty's lingering gaze only curled her lips into a sultry smile.

She laid back and held her arms out invitingly. Sayaka obliged by crawling up the length of her body, and Kyoko's eyes fixed on her breasts. Not for the first time, nor the last time, she resented her own small chest, but her girlfriend never seemed to mind.

As Sayaka moved to be directly over top of Kyoko, she trailed her fingers up the redhead's inner thigh, felt her shiver at the touch. She relished the sharp intake of breath as her fingers passed so close, but moved on without touching her there.

Fingers hooked under the edges of her shirt and carefully lifted it over her head…then stopped. Her arms were pinned above her head by a hand, her entire field of view blocked by black fabric. Kyoko raised an eyebrow that Sayaka couldn't see but didn't protest. The seconds dragged on and she had begun to lose her patience when suddenly her heart jumped. A pair of soft lips brushed across her nipples, right to left, then latched onto the right one.

Sayaka ran her teeth lightly over the sensitive nub and smiled as her girlfriend squirmed. In contrast to her loud and boisterous personality, Kyoko rarely made much noise in bed—Sayaka, surprisingly, was the louder of the two—but more than a year as lovers had taught her how to read every little twitch for signs of how her girlfriend was feeling. She played her tongue lightly over Kyoko's nipple while her left hand trailed lazily down her belly to rest right above her waist.

As much as she was enjoying the attention, Kyoko didn't intend to spend the whole time with her shirt over her face and her arms stuck awkwardly above her head. The moment Sayaka stopped teasing her chest, she wrapped her legs around Sayaka's waist and rolled, flipping both of them onto their sides. Sayaka squeaked at the unexpected shift, and Kyoko took the opportunity to pull her shirt the rest of the way off.

When she could finally see more than the front of her tank top, Kyoko's heart skipped. Sayaka was staring into her eyes with such a tender look on her face that her throat felt suddenly tight. Kyoko cupped her face in her hands and kissed her, on her forehead, her eyelids, her lips.

"I love you."

Sayaka's smile grew brighter and she stroked Kyoko's face. "I love you, too." Her smile became sultry. "But I wasn't finished showing you how much."

Her fingers rested lightly on Kyoko's thighs again, but this time didn't pass idly by her special place. Kyoko sucked in a breath as the feather-light touch brushed along her lips. She closed her eyes and lay back as Sayaka gently ran her fingers up and down, pausing each time at the top to caress her clit. It was slow and methodical, the way Sayaka liked to do things when she was in a romantic mood. Kyoko preferred to be faster and a little rougher, but readily admitted that this was nice as an occasional change.

Before too long, Kyoko was digging her fingers into the mattress and curling her toes, her breath coming in heavy pants. Sayaka grinned and placed two fingers right at her entrance, teasing her further, until Kyoko began to groan in frustration. The groan became a gasp as she felt Sayaka's fingers inside her at last.

She started out with slow, deep strokes, until Kyoko was squirming. Sayaka gradually increased the pace until she was pumping in and out of her, pausing every so often to press up on a certain place. It didn't take long for her to spot the signs that told her that Kyoko was close to orgasm, from the way her hands clenched, the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the shudders that became more and more frequent the closer she got…and the tightness around her fingers.

 _Not just yet, lover._

Sayaka leaned down and kissed Kyoko as she drew her fingers from the redhead. When they had been new lovers, such an act had caused much aggravation, but it didn't take long until she had come to understand what it meant. Sayaka might like to take things slow and build up gradually, but she wasn't one to needlessly tease her lover. If she stopped using her fingers before Kyoko had reached climax, then it meant…

Hot breath on her thighs made her tense in anticipation. Sayaka didn't waste any more time by playing it slow, not when her girlfriend was already this far along. The first touch of Sayaka's lips to Kyoko's brought an involuntary mewl that made her immediately turn red from embarrassment…which was quickly forgotten as Sayaka spread her folds with her thumbs and pushed her tongue deep inside of her.

She had been so close already that it didn't take long for the oral stimulation to push her over the edge. Kyoko's fingernails pierced the mattress as a series of powerful throbs shot through her body, accompanied by mind numbing bliss.

Yes…she put up with Sayaka's slow approach because it always paid off in the end.

When she had regained enough of her senses to move, she gingerly sat up and pressed herself into her waiting lover's embrace. Sayaka stroked her hair as affection for her fiery redhead burned brightly in her heart. "So…forgive me for dragging you out of bed last night?"

"Only if you promise either not to do it again, or to keep doing this to make up for it."

Sayaka laughed, and the familiar sounds made Kyoko's heart soar. "Deal…one way or the other."

Kyoko smirked and placed a hand on her sternum. Sayaka's quizzical look turned into surprise when Kyoko pushed her onto her back and pried her legs apart.

"We're not done yet, lover. It's your turn."

She didn't bother with foreplay, and wouldn't have needed to, anyway, as Sayaka was still quite aroused from the things she had done to Kyoko. The redhead was perfectly capable of making love slowly and sensually, as Sayaka had, but usually only did so when she was in a romantic mood, herself. Now she got straight to business: after easing her legs apart, Kyoko put her hands under Sayaka's cute butt and lifted her so that her thighs rested on Kyoko's shoulders.

Kyoko kissed her way up her love's inner thigh until she reached her pussy. Sayaka moaned as she felt her girlfriend's tongue running up and down her lips, cried out when it slid inside of her. She squirmed on the bed, every movement of Kyoko's tongue eliciting more gasps and moans. Her legs crossed behind her girlfriend's head, toes curling and uncurling.

Kyoko had had a good deal of practice at this over the past year and knew what to do to make Sayaka die with pleasure. It didn't take long before she was quivering from head to toe and biting her hand to stop from moaning too loudly. All it took was Kyoko to withdraw her tongue and wrap her lips around Sayaka's clit to send her screaming over the edge. Her thighs squeezed around Kyoko's head like a vice, but she didn't let up until the blunette had gone completely slack. Kyoko lowered her carefully to the bed and moved the pillows down to where she lay so that Sayaka could rest in comfort without having to move.

Sayaka smiled, a certain dazed quality to the expression, and pulled the covers over their nude bodies, snuggling up to her beloved in the dark.

"I love you, Kyo," she said once more before closing her eyes.

"I love you, too, Saya." Kyoko gathered her into her arms and rested her chin on her love's collar. "I'll never let anything happen to you."

Sleep never used to come easily for her, not after the horrors she had witnessed. But, these days, she never slept more peacefully than when she was in the arms of the woman she loved, when it felt like the world wasn't such a bad place, after all.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully this wasn't bad, as my first attempt at a lemon. Next week, back to more meaningful content.

And for my fellow Americans, Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading, everyone. See you next week.


	5. Chapter 5

She woke up warm and content, and an affectionate smile spread across her face as she found her love cuddled up against her and sleeping peacefully, head resting on her chest.

It was the perfect morning.

Then reality rudely reasserted itself.

Kyoko's heart slowly sank as recent events surfaced in her memory. There was a dangerous Magical Girl stalking them through the city, Sayaka would have to leave soon for school…and very soon she would be alone again. Sayaka had to go home, and who knew when she would be able to spend a significant amount of time with her outside of hunting again?

She lay in silence, turning these thoughts over in her mind, until Sayaka's phone alarm went off. She woke with a groan and turned it off before flopping back down against Kyoko.

"Mornin'," she mumbled.

"Hey, Sayaka?"

"Mnhm?"

"Why don't you just…stay here today?"

Sayaka sat up and folded her arms. The look she gave Kyoko was almost…pitying?

"I know you're worried about me with Reiko around, and…I know you'll miss me, but I couldn't skip school yesterday, and I can't today, either. Besides, I'm the one that should be worrying about you. I'll be at school all day and around Homura. You'll be alone out here." Sayaka bit her lip, knowing what kind of reaction she was about to get but needing to say it anyway. "Maybe…you should leave Mitakihara for a week or two."

Kyoko's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Fine," she growled, taking Sayaka by surprise. "If you come with me."

"Kyoko, you know I can't—"

"Then don't you _dare_ tell me to run away, Miki."

It was a suggestion she had had to make, but she knew well enough not to try to push the issue. Kyoko was already angry and trying further to convince her to go would turn this into a full-blown fight. And shouting at each other while they were both naked was an awkward prospect, even more so if the noise brought the hotel staff to check on them.

"Okay, but…what are you going to do? You'll be alone most of the time."

Kyoko sighed and leaned against the headboard. "There's something off about this girl…but I don't think she's crazy. She won't start a fight in broad daylight when there are people around. If there was some Magical Girl making a spectacle of herself in other cities, we'd have heard of her by now. Reiko's like a ghost. As long as I stay in crowded areas, I'll be fine. I'm not going to go wandering through dark alleys and deserted lots, Sayaka."

"And at night?"

"Plenty of crowded areas then, too. Mitakihara's got a strong nightlife."

She gave an exasperated sigh and lightly rapped Kyoko on the head with two fingers. "You know what I meant. What are you going to do when you need to sleep?"

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'll probably just find a nice bench in the park to curl up on."

Sayaka glared at her. "Don't be an ass."

"What do you think I'm going to do? I'll go back to Homura's place and stay with her. Even if we don't always get along, she's not going to turn me out onto the streets to get killed in my sleep."

It was reasonable enough, but Sayaka couldn't shake a bad feeling about the whole thing. She would hardly see Kyoko at all; that was bad enough ordinarily, but under the present circumstances she wanted to keep her girlfriend close. She ran both hands through her hair, thinking. "Kyoko…if we're really, really careful…you could stay in my room. Just during the night."

Her sarcastic retort died in her throat. Sayaka had never let her spend the night before. Part of her was thrilled, both at the idea of more nights spent with Sayaka and with the prospect of finally getting to stay in her room…but the rest of her realized just how concerned Sayaka was for her safety, and that this was not a romantic gesture but a decision born from fear.

Still…if it took something this severe to get Sayaka to cave, who knew if she'd ever get the chance again?

Kyoko sighed and shrugged. "If it will make you feel better, I'll keep you company at night."

"Kyoko, we're not going to be having sex in my home."

"You suck."

* * *

Three years in Mitakihara, and Kyoko _still_ hadn't bothered to set up any kind of permanent residence, due in part to lack of funds and partly to the comfortable familiarity that homelessness had developed for her. She had stayed with Mami for a while, but never for too long at a time; Kyoko had loathed the idea of being a burden on anyone, even if Mami never would have seen it that way. And when the blonde moved out the landlord wouldn't let her keep living in the apartment, so she spent her days outside and nights wherever she felt like sleeping.

This created some complications in their relationship, due primarily to Sayaka's parents. The Mikis had met Kyoko before, but Sayaka kept their contact limited, so they weren't aware that she was such an important part of their daughter's life. Sayaka had managed to dodge questions about Kyoko's home life and current address due to this very reason; if she started inviting Kyoko over, or worse, said that she was going to stay over at Kyoko's, it would invite uncomfortable questions that she couldn't answer without flat out lying. Having her stay over without her parents' knowledge was too risky, hence hotels and help from Hitomi. They had made love in Sayaka's room before, when her parents were out, but she had never spent the night.

But drastic action needed to be taken in the current situation.

Which was why the redhead now clambered in through the fifth floor window, landing gracefully on the floor with hardly a sound.

"You sure about this?" she whispered.

"Of course. My home is closer to the downtown area that Homura's is. It will be a lot safer if you don't have to go far."

Kyoko shrugged. "I could stay in another hotel."

"For a few weeks? You don't have the money for that!"

Fangs flashed in a devious grin. "Who said anything about paying?"

The glare that Sayaka leveled at her could have warped steel, but only made her grin wider.

"Just get in bed, you ass."

Kyoko sighed in mock despair as she kicked off her shoes and flopped onto the bed. "I remember when you used to be romantic about it. Now it's just 'get in bed, Kyoko!' I thought I was more than just a booty call to you, Sayaka."

She was already beginning to doubt the wisdom of this idea.

* * *

' _No trouble?'_

Sayaka shook her head almost imperceptibly while copying down what Kazuko was saying—something not about her failed love life, for once. The previous night was the second that Kyoko had stayed over, and her parents were none the wiser. There hadn't been any sign of Reiko, either.

' _Not really. Just putting up with Kyoko's mouth and worrying about my parents finding us.'_

The raven haired girl arched one eyebrow while keeping her gaze fixed firmly ahead. _'I was under the impression that you were rather appreciative of Kyoko's mouth.'_

Sayaka was seized by a sudden urge to hit Homura, but the middle of class was a poor time for it. _'Don't you start, too.'_

' _You set yourself up for that one.'_

Her eyes narrowed and she turned to look at Homura. _'And what would you know about that, anyway?'_

Homura's expression remained neutral, but Sayaka could tell that she was smirking on the inside. _'You mean aside from the obvious? Not much. Only what Kyoko mentions when she's bragging. A little while ago I learned that you prefer to be on the bottom when the two of you are—'_

' _Oh my God,_ _ **SHUT UP!**_ _'_ Sayaka's face had gone white at first, but now was almost as red as Kyoko's hair. Homura shook slightly with silent laughter. _'I am going to_ _ **kill**_ _her.'_

Homura rolled her eyes. _'It's not as if we had long, detailed conversations about your sex life. She just tends to let some things slip.'_ She knew she had just incurred Kyoko's wrath for getting her in trouble with Sayaka, and that the redhead could hold a grudge for a long time, but it had simply been too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, she knew the two of them better than they knew themselves. This would cause no real problems in their relationship and they would get over it quickly. _'But never mind that,'_ Homura said seriously. _'There's still the matter of Reiko.'_

' _What about her?'_ Sayaka grumbled, already considering ways to teach Kyoko a lesson. _'She hasn't done anything yet. And as long as we stick together, we should be fine.'_

' _That relies on the assumption that she is unwilling to fight more than one of us at a time.'_

' _I guess so, but…are we really sure that she's our enemy?'_

Homura glanced sideways at her. _'You heard her as well as I did. Her intentions were fairly clear. Leave Mitakihara, or fight.'_ When Sayaka didn't respond, Homura gave the tiniest shake of her head. _'We all hope that nothing will happen, but you must be prepared for a fight if one comes, or you will lose.'_

' _Now you sound like Kyoko,'_ she grumbled.

' _Rare though it may be, she is occasionally right. After hearing Reiko the other night, I am more convinced than ever that Kyoko is right about this. You will notice that even Kyoko isn't pushing us to kill Reiko, but she is expecting a fight and is ready for one. You would do well to follow her example.'_

Sayaka didn't respond, but Homura knew that her mind was turning over what she had said. Homura wasn't worried about the girl, exactly, but there was a measure of concern for her that would not be quieted. There was no more to be said at the moment, though, and Sayaka seemed unwilling to continue the discussion, so Homura returned her full attention to the class. She believed that her colleague would be all right, in the end; she had Kyoko watching out for her.

* * *

Kyoko was sleeping on the floor.

Trying to sleep, actually.

Homura, the stupid twat, had thrown her under the bus by telling Sayaka that she had maybe let some minor details of their intimate moments together slip once or twice. It wasn't like she spent long conversations explaining everything about her sex life to Homura, or anyone else. Just…sometimes, she'd be a little too generous with details.

Sayaka had been pretty pissed, though. She wasn't going to kick her out while they were in danger from Reiko, but she had made it clear that Kyoko would not be sharing her bed.

She supposed that she should have expected some kind of reprisal due to her tendency to push Homura's buttons at every opportunity, and had to admit that she had gotten her good. Still, next time she saw that smug, black haired bitch, she was knocking her scrawny ass into the dirt.

* * *

The alarm cut through Kyoko's dreams and snapped her awake in an instant. Her back ached as she rolled, and the rough night of tossing and turning did not help her mood. She resolved to hit Homura twice.

Sayaka hit the alarm button and the aggravating noise stopped. "All right, Kyoko. Out."

The redhead glared, but the expression was mostly sulky. "Are you still mad?"

The expression on Sayaka's face was answer enough.

"Fine. I'll just wander around all day. Alone. I'll be in before curfew, mom." Without waiting for Sayaka to respond to her sarcasm, she changed into her outfit and jumped out of the window, landing lightly on the ground five stories below before dismissing the magical attire.

It was still dark out, but dawn wasn't far off. Sayaka's parents were early risers, so, to minimize the chance of being discovered, they had agreed that Kyoko would get up even earlier and head out each day. She felt exposed, but it was too close to dawn in a heavily residential area. Soon the sidewalks would be packed with people going to work and school, and, even in the middle of the night, the sound of a fight here would wake the whole block.

Even so, she was tense each morning as she walked. Reiko had found them easily enough at Homura's house. It was ridiculous to think she didn't know where Sayaka lived. She hadn't said anything to Sayaka about it because she didn't want to scare her, but she couldn't lie to herself. Kyoko felt eyes on her as she walked, and knew it wasn't paranoia.

She was being watched.

* * *

Kyoko fished some crumpled bills out of the pocket of her hoodie and handed them to the florist. She knew that Sayaka wouldn't stay mad at her for long, but showing up with flowers didn't hurt. Hopefully the day had cooled Sayaka's head about the whole thing with Homura. It was just Homura, after all. Not like she'd given Hitomi a detailed rundown of their bedroom antics to spread around school.

The day had passed quickly. It was about time to head back. She kept the flowers held closely in front of her so they didn't get crushed by the crowds around her as she walked to Sayaka's home.

The sun was beginning to set when she arrived at the apartment complex where the Mikis lived. Fortunately, their apartment didn't face the street, making it much easier to scale without attracting attention. Aided by her supernatural abilities, and with the flowers held in her teeth, she reached the fifth floor in no time and shimmied along the ledge until she reached Sayaka's window. Kyoko rapped lightly on the glass and waited.

When the window didn't open, she started to get annoyed. She didn't have a lot of room here, and while a fall wouldn't hurt her, it would be annoying. She tapped her knuckles more insistently against the glass.

Still nothing. If Sayaka was doing this because she was annoyed at her, they were going to have words.

' _Sayaka!'_ she called. A beat passed. _'SAYAKA!'_

With the silence that greeted her mental shout, a thread of fear wormed its way into her heart. If Sayaka had been anywhere in the building, she should have heard that and responded. Bracing herself against the wall as best she could, Kyoko fished her phone out of her pocket, gingerly set the flowers on the ledge and dialed Sayaka's number. After it went to message, she canceled the call.

A clenching feeling had developed in her stomach. Sayaka knew that she would be here around now. She shouldn't be this hard to reach.

The minutes ticked by, punctuated by new attempts to call her girlfriend. Finally, her disquiet starting to turn into panic, she punched in the number for the Miki home phone.

"No, we haven't seen Sayaka since she left for school this morning. Do you have any idea where she might—"

Before Sayaka's mother had finished the question, Kyoko had hit the ground, rolled to her feet and set off at a dead sprint.

If nothing was actually wrong, she would wring Sayaka's neck. If something was wrong…a vice gripped around her heart.

Homura was too far away for telepathy, but Kyoko was already bringing her number up on her phone.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Homura!" The shout made her recoil from her phone, but there was no mistaking the desperation in Kyoko's voice, and at once Homura was tense and alert. "Sayaka's missing! Have you seen her?!"

Her heart sank. So it had begun. "Not since we left school. I assumed she had gone home."

"You didn't stay with her!?"

"We live in different directions, Kyoko. How would it have made sense to walk her home and then have to walk alone farther than she would have?"

Kyoko's anger didn't lessen, but she couldn't justify directing it at Homura so she moved on. "We need to find her, fast. Can I count on you?"

She was already heading out the door and making a mental checklist of places to search. "Of course. I'll go to where I last saw Sayaka. You know where we split up on the walk home—if you're at her place, trace her path back to there and then we'll start searching."

"Right." The call ended without another word. Homura closed her eyes, letting the weariness of this existence pour over her like a wave, then shouldered the burden again and headed back out to face the world.

* * *

A/N: The two most important things you should take away from this chapter: 1) Don't piss off Homura, and 2) Don't trust Homura with sensitive information.

The chapters remain shortish. Sorry about that, it's just that the best places to divide them aren't very far apart.

Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading. Next chapter: things start to get ugly.


	6. Chapter 6

When they had all been children, Sayaka was usually the one to take care of cuts and scrapes that the girls acquired while playing, if there wasn't an adult around. Perhaps she had always had a penchant for healing, but in all likelihood it was simply because she wasn't bothered by the blood. Hitomi was the squeamish sort, and a bad cut would make her sick. Sayaka had always laughed it off and teased Hitomi for her weak constitution.

Now, as she hastily wiped her own blood off of her face with the back of her glove, only to realize that there had been too much blood on the glove beforehand for it to do any good, she felt sick.

The white parts of her outfit were soaked red in some places, speckled lightly in others, but stained throughout. Her hands shook slightly as she raised her sword and knocked aside the curved blade, but she had no opening to attack, could only continue to defend herself. She was used to fighting out in the open, with plenty of room to move around; the cramped alley left her with few options, but didn't seem to slow her opponent at all.

 _This…this is bad._

* * *

She wasn't stupid. There was still plenty of daylight, and she stuck to crowded areas just as Kyoko did.

The same crowded areas, actually. After she and Homura went their separate ways, Sayaka had had the inspiration to track Kyoko down at one of her favorite spots and spend some of the afternoon with her. She had been a little harsh to her, earlier, even if she was still pissed off about Kyoko telling Homura things that were _obviously_ private.

At first she tried to find Kyoko on her own to surprise her. After wandering around the mall for half an hour with no luck, she finally gave up and took out her phone to call her. Sayaka scrolled down through her contacts, then paused with a frown when she reached "Mom." She thumbed the menu back up, only to find herself looking at "Kyousuke" and "Homura."

Sayaka stared at the screen with growing bewilderment. Had she accidentally deleted Kyoko's number? She couldn't recall the last time she had even pulled the number up, and had no idea how she would have mixed up messaging the number with deleting it. Shaking her head, Sayaka opened up her messages to find one that Kyoko had sent her so she could add her back to her contacts.

' _Sayaka!'_

Her head snapped up, all issues with the phone forgotten in an instant. _'Kyoko? What is it? Where are you?'_

' _Sayaka, help me! It's Reiko, she—'_

The desperation in her voice was painfully clear, but it was the way the telepathic message cut off midsentence that was truly alarming. Sayaka started running, giving no notice to the stares that her sudden sprint through the mall was garnering. She was outside in under half a minute and stared around wildly, trying to find any kind of clue that would tell her which way to go.

Panic started to build in her chest as stood helplessly. _'Kyoko, where are you!?'_

There was nothing for a few long, painful moments, then…not a message from Kyoko so much as a brief flash of emotion, and this time she could feel a pull in her Soul Gem in the direction that it was coming from. She was off again, sprinting down the sidewalks towards the place where she hoped she would find Kyoko.

Spurred on by the desperation in Kyoko's mental summons, Sayaka pelted through alleys between buildings, ignoring the occasional shady person she passed and the surprised catcalls that sometimes followed her. Fortunately (for them), none of them did anything more than yell; if any of the local scum tried anything with her that stopped her from reaching Kyoko, they would have been considered lucky to be able to walk away afterwards.

A feeling of unease tugged at the back of her mind, even as she forced herself to run faster. She was reaching a part of Mitakihara so far removed from the main city that she couldn't fathom what Kyoko might have been doing out here. There was something else, too, something that didn't feel right but that she couldn't put her finger on…

But it _was_ Kyoko's voice that she heard, there was no mistaking that. Her partner, her love was in trouble and she had to help her before something terrible—

When the realization came, it hit her with a force that made her lose stride and nearly crash into the wall of an alley.

Their telepathy had a pretty limited range. Within a few blocks of each other wouldn't be a problem. But she had been running, _sprinting_ , for nearly five minutes, had gone far from where she had first heard the call.

Either Kyoko was steadily moving away from her as she was trying to reach her, or something was terribly wrong.

She had just decided to stop and turn back when the barest whisper of cloth on skin caught her attention and she lunged in the opposite direction. Her school clothes were replaced by battle attire in an instant and a saber appeared in her hand as she whirled to face the girl who had led her to this trap.

Reiko had recovered from her missed strike and stood at the ready, both hands wrapped around the long handle of a sickle-like weapon. The kama was stylized like all Magical Girl weaponry, with gold inlays along the handle and a black finish around the edges of the blade, but still simple in its design. The curved blade at the top of the handle was at least a foot long and thin. Sayaka took in the weapon at a glance and turned her attention to the girl herself.

Her battle garb was the most elegant Sayaka had ever seen. It showed much less skin than the other girls', excepting Homura, and looked more like a formal dress than the usual costume like outfits. The purple top was trimmed with black and sleeveless, leaving her arms unrestricted in their range of motion. For a moment Sayaka thought the knee length skirt might have hindered her opponent, but as Reiko shifted her stance she saw slits up the sides that left her with full mobility. Her purple soul gem glinted from the middle of her forehead like a third eye, set into a silver tiara.

The look of regret was gone from Reiko's eyes, replaced by cold steel. She waited, eying Sayaka warily, and a cold weight settled in her stomach as she realized how ill prepared she was for this fight. Reiko had watched her in combat, knew at least some of her tricks, and this was the first time she'd even seen the weapon that her opponent used.

 _We all hope that nothing will happen, but you must be prepared for a fight if one comes, or you will lose._

She gave her head a little shake, pushing the words that Homura had said out of her mind.

"Reiko, stop," she demanded, inwardly wincing at the feebleness of her command and hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. "There's no reason for us to fight."

"I told you, Miki-san, when we met the other night: it would be the last we spoke on the matter. The time for talking has passed. There is only one course of action left to me."

For the first time, Sayaka truly understood what Kyoko had seen in this girl. She had held the hope—naïvely, it now seemed—that they could get through to her. That if they endeavored to stay out of her way, she would come to realize that they bore her no ill will and leave them be. Kyoko had known: Reiko was too far gone, in whatever way she was damaged, for reason to sway her.

There was now only one course of action left for Sayaka, too.

* * *

 _This is bad._

The thought, so simplistic that it was nearly pointless, was all she had time to form before Reiko was on her again. The point of the curved blade angled in towards her face, so fast she could barely see it, and she just had time to duck, felt the tip scratch a thin line along her temple. Though a minor injury, it would soon ooze blood into her right eye, and she sacrificed a small amount of magic to close the wound before that happened.

Sayaka was fast. Kyoko was faster. Reiko…she had never seen anyone move like her. She had barely parried one strike before another sliced a thin cut along her triceps. When she managed to get enough space between them to attack, her sword slashed harmlessly above Reiko's head, and then there was a shallow gash in her belly. The injuries were petty, but it was all she could do to keep Reiko from hooking the kama under her armpit or around her neck and ending the fight all at once, and with each minor injury it became harder to stop the next one.

A cold realization settled over her: she was going to lose. There was no one around to help her, she had no way to escaping. She would lose, and she would die. And then Kyoko, mad with grief, would be easy prey for Reiko to stalk and devour. Homura would try to help Kyoko, no doubt, but the redhead wouldn't be listening to reason, wouldn't let Homura stop her from seeking vengeance. Homura…she might have a chance. She was too cautious to fall for any trick that Reiko might try, and, if she hadn't already, then she would certainly call Mami in for support after the two of them were dead.

But she, Sayaka, was going to die, and Kyoko would soon follow.

The horror of that thought spurred her to fight even harder. She knocked Reiko's weapon aside so forcefully that it slipped from her fingers and, for a split second, Sayaka felt the elation of hope as she raised her sword. It didn't last. In an instant, Reiko raised one hand to Sayaka's elbow, stopping her from swinging her blade, and with her other hand struck her in the side. Pain seared across her body as several ribs cracked. Then Reiko had her kama back, and it began all over again.

Morale could only accomplish so much when one was so thoroughly outmatched. The kama carved more and more shallow cuts into her, all across her body, and then her reactions slowed, and the cuts became gashes and stab wounds. It was drawing to a close; they both knew it. Sayaka was almost ready to just let it happen; to die, and maybe see this god-entity that Homura had mentioned.

 _Can't…I can't do that…to Kyoko._

That simple thought made everything clearer. She couldn't give up. She didn't have the luxury of letting go of the struggle. Kyoko needed her. And as long as Sayaka was still alive, she had to do everything she could to make sure she came back to her. Still clinging to the last vestiges of determination, she blocked and parried and slashed, and an idea began to form.

She was still going to lose. But she might just be able to survive this. It was a long shot, but it was the only way out that she had.

All she had was an idea, a slim hope, and a dirty trick.

Sayaka staggered, hand going to the newest gash in her side, so much blood on her hand already that the fresh fluid made little difference. Until Reiko closed again.

She whipped her hand out, and her own blood spattered into the startled eyes of her attacker, blinding her for a few precious seconds. No opportunity to press the attack; Reiko leapt far away to clear her vision, and Sayaka was too weak to follow. She only had seconds.

* * *

Reiko hastily wiped the blood out of her eyes and blinked rapidly to help clear her vision. When she could see again, Sayaka was already at the opposite end of the alley. Clever, but it changed nothing. Reiko hefted the sickle and threw it as hard as she could. The weapon tumbled end over end before sinking into Sayaka's back.

The blunette stumbled, righted herself, staggered a few more steps and fell. The kama in her back disappeared, and a new one materialized in Reiko's hand. She moved in for the kill.

* * *

Everything was getting fuzzy. Her vision, her brain. Sayaka managed to get her arms under her and tried to push herself to her feet, but succeeded only in rising to her knees. She was vaguely aware of calm, measured footsteps approaching.

She wasn't even strong enough to stand, let alone run.

There was nothing else she could do.

Sayaka closed her eyes and waited for it to end.

Cold metal pressed against her throat, there was a burst of pain, and everything went black.

* * *

Blood poured out of the deep cut in Sayaka's neck and she swayed for a moment before toppling.

It was over, then. All that remained was to make sure of it by breaking the girl's Soul Gem; then, she could turn her attention to the other two. Kyoko was no doubt looking for her girlfriend at this very moment. The thought sent a twinge of guilt through Reiko, but she crushed it down. She had given them every opportunity to leave peacefully.

The magical attire vanished from the body, leaving her in her school uniform. That made it simple—her Soul Gem would have returned to her finger. Reiko knelt beside Sayaka and gently turned her body over. The girl wasn't breathing. She lifted her hand to slip the ring off, and—

She stared blankly. There was no ring. There was no Soul Gem. Reiko looked around the alley, hoping to see some trace of the ring or the Gem, but it was empty. Cursing, she quickly examined the body to see if it was concealed somewhere, but again came up with nothing.

Reiko allowed her magical attire to dissipate, wishing she could remove the blood from her hands as easily. She glanced around the alley. It was a mess here; she had best leave before anyone came along.

She stared at the girl's body, feeling uneasy. Her injuries were extensive. Not even a Magical Girl could survive them. Still…Reiko knelt again and pressed her fingers firmly against the veins in Sayaka's wrist and waited.

There was no pulse. And her chest didn't rise at all, no matter how long Reiko stared at her body. Reiko nodded, reassured.

Sayaka was dead.

She wondered if Kyoko would find Sayaka's body before she found Kyoko. She hoped not; she would try to finish this quickly enough to prevent any unnecessary suffering, but she had warned the girls of the consequences of dismissing her offer. They had chosen this path.

Still…it was regrettable.

Before standing to leave, Reiko clasped Sayaka's limp hand in both of hers.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

A/N: This chapter still feels a little rough in places, but hopefully it holds up well enough to keep the narrative going.

Nothing else to report. Thanks for reading, leave a review, see ya next week, etc.


	7. Chapter 7

The sun had already set as Kyoko tore down sidewalks and through alleys, not knowing how she could track down Sayaka in the whole city, but needing to do something. There was no word from Homura since they had split up to search separately, but she resisted the urge to call her. She knew the girl was searching just as hard as she was.

It had occurred to them that they would be playing into Reiko's hands by splitting up. They would be much safer if they searched for her together. But Kyoko had insisted on this course of action; she didn't care if she was in danger, she didn't care if Reiko was counting on her running around alone and in the dark. It didn't matter.

The whole time she ran, Kyoko called out to Sayaka with her mind. She wasn't sure if Reiko would be able to pick up on that, too. Telepathically speaking to one other Magical Girl and excluding the rest in the area was simple, but she didn't know how well that worked if you didn't have a clear connection to the person you were trying to communicate with. Reiko may very well have been zeroing in on her location as she looked for Sayaka. That didn't matter, either.

Sayaka was out there somewhere. That was all that mattered.

She had realized nearly two years ago that, if it came down to it, she would give her life for this girl without a second's hesitation.

As the last glow of twilight faded and darkness settled over the city, Kyoko slumped against a building and buried her face in her hands. It was hopeless. She had run around a few square miles of city blocks and had found nothing. Not a single trace of Sayaka, or even of that purple haired bitch. Despair welled up in her, and she could feel tears start to sting her eyes, when she sensed it.

It was faint, but there was a…something in her mind, and in her Soul Gem. It wasn't telepathy—it was closer to the feeling she got when Wraiths were nearby, but distinctly different. Kyoko pushed off of the wall and concentrated, reaching out for whatever it was that she had felt.

A direction. Not a clear location, but a compulsion to go in a general direction.

It was all she had. Without another moment's hesitation, Kyoko started running again.

* * *

The feeling became stronger. Now she was certain that it wasn't something she had imagined. She wound her way deeper into a rundown section of the city, getting farther and farther away from the gleaming heart of Mitakihara and into the industrial outskirts of the city.

As she approached an alley, the sense became clear, but still so faint. She was sure that this was the place. Steeling herself for whatever she might find, she summoned her crimson outfit and spear and sped down the alley.

The sight that greeted her turned her heart to ash.

The redhead covered her mouth and staggered against the wall. Tears of pure grief filled her eyes, providing a small mercy by obscuring the blood-soaked heap left by a pair of trash cans, like it was just another thing to be collected by waste disposal. The fear that had seized her heart returned in full force, freezing her veins and driving the air out of her lungs.

Kyoko knelt by Sayaka's ruined body and cradled her head in her lap. Her soft, blue hair was matted with blood, but Kyoko stroked it as she had the many mornings she had woken up with that head nestled against her. She reached out to hold the limp hand, slipping her fingers between the cold ones that she had held so many times. Tears came fast and heavy now, blinding her to Sayaka's corpse. Her whole body shook with choked sobs.

' _kyoko'_

She stopped completely. Stopped moving, stopped crying, stayed absolutely still and silent.

' _help'_

Kyoko swiped angrily at her eyes to hurriedly clear the tears, and, after gently laying Sayaka's head down, jumped to her feet. She scarcely dared to hope, but if there was even a faint possibility…

* * *

 _Where?_

 _It wasn't dark. It wasn't light, either. She had no sense of sight, or even a perceived lack of sight. She wasn't warm or cold. She couldn't feel…anything. One by one, she became aware that her senses had been taken from her, as if she had never had that sense in the first place._

 _She knew._

 _She remembered, and understood._

 _The horror of her situation pressed on her, smothering her, scraping at her mind._

 _But there was hope._

 _At least, she thought there was still hope. She didn't know how much time had passed. She had no way of perceiving anything, anywhere._

 _She reached out, feeling with her mind for the familiar, the other that was almost a part of herself. But she was so weak…it was so hard to focus, to find what she was looking for._

 _She didn't know how much time passed. The only thing she could perceive was that she was getting weaker, but didn't have any way to judge the rate of time that it took for her strength to drain away._

 _All she could do was keep reaching out, looking._

 _And at last, she found her._

 _She was too weak to project a thought to her, far away as she was. It was all she could do to send a need, a desire for her to come._

 _Now she had a frame of reference for the passage of time, a stabilizing element that she desperately clung to, as the familiar presence moved through the city, searching feverishly along a winding path that steadily brought her closer._

 _The presence was so close now, and she reached out to touch it._

 _She recoiled._

 _She felt nothing but pain. The grief of a world broken._

 _kyoko_

* * *

She walked carefully along the alley, Sayaka's body cradled in her arms, eyes focused intently on her own Soul Gem that rested on Sayaka's belly. She tried to keep her attention focused on the Gem, but couldn't help flicking her eyes around at the signs of battle as she passed them. Blood pooled in places along its whole length, dripped down the walls from spatters that had been left by brutal slashes through flesh. It more closely resembled the scene of a twisted mass murder than a battleground. Hatred burned hot in her chest, but there was no time for that.

Her eyes fell on a broken pipe that looked to have been dislodged in the fight. Her heart in her throat, she set Sayaka's body down and wrenched the pipe off of the wall completely. Something inside rattled, and, just for a moment, she allowed herself to hope.

Kyoko turned the pipe around in her hands and tilted it. With a clatter, the familiar blue gem fell into her hand, and a haze of misery that obscured the world lifted. She hugged the gem to her chest, cradling it like it was the fragile egg of some precious creature, silent tears streaming down her face.

The Soul Gem was nearly black now, almost all of Sayaka's energy expended, but that didn't matter. Kyoko pulled out a fistful of Grief Cubes and sat next to the shattered body. They were all of the Cubes she had on her, but that didn't matter, either. They'd get more.

There was no denying that Sayaka's body was dead. There was no heartbeat, no breath. But the body was just a shell, as they had learned so long ago, and if anyone could heal this much damage, it would be Sayaka.

As black mist flowed out of the Gem and was drawn into the cubes, Sayaka's accelerated healing kicked in. The wounds that would have been fatal to an ordinary person glowed as they sealed; Kyoko didn't look away as the deep gash in Sayaka's throat closed, but her hands clenched so hard that her fingernails pierced the skin of her palms.

The wounds were terrible; even Magical Girls, who could heal any kind of injury, could be killed by enough damage. What Kyubey had said was technically true: as long as their Soul Gems weren't destroyed, they were nearly invincible. There were two problems, though. If the damage was too severe, a Puella could quickly run out of magic while trying to keep her body from dying, and then be taken by the Law of Cycles. The other possible problem came if the body was totally and irrevocably lost, but the Soul Gem remained.

Once, as an experiment, Kyoko had walked outside of the sphere of influence emanating from her gem. Sayaka was to wait a few minutes, then return the gem to her.

The sensation had been terrifying. Trapped in a void with no senses, no way to tell how much time was passing or what was happening around her. If she hadn't known that she only had to wait a short time for Sayaka to bring her out of it, she might have lost her mind. She wouldn't wish that on anyone…not even Reiko.

The last trickles of darkness flowed into the cubes but, after all of the energy that had been used to heal her ruined body, Sayaka's gem was dull and murky. They had more cubes at Sayaka's home…they just needed to get there.

Sayaka stirred feebly. Kyoko let out a relieved sigh that was nearly a sob. Soft blue eyes fluttered open and moved around feverishly before finding Kyoko's. Sayaka attempted a weak smile, took a shuddering breath, and broke. Kyoko scooped her into her arms and held her tight as she cried.

Slowly, all of the fear of dying alone and the horror of being trapped in her Soul Gem faded into the strength of the arms around her and the warmth of the chest that she was cradled against. And then she was herself again, strong and resolute, only afraid of what might happen to her friends and loved ones. She gave Kyoko a shaky smile.

"You found me…"

The redhead chuckled weakly and ruffled Sayaka's hair. "I'm never letting you go. You're stuck with me."

Her hand sought Sayaka's and they intertwined their fingers, a reminder that neither of them had been left alone, that they still had each other. For the moment, that was all that mattered.

* * *

A/N: There will be two or three more chapters. Things are about to heat up a lot, but we're near the end.

Apologies to anyone who might have received an alert about a chapter update earlier this morning only to find no chapter. I tried to hurriedly upload it before going to work and then realized that I hadn't done any formatting for this site and it was all just a big block of text, so I deleted it.

I hope you are enjoying this story. See ya next week.


	8. Chapter 8

"That's everything you remember? You're sure?"

Sayaka nodded as she got to her feet, rubbing at her neck as she did so. Every trace of the injury was gone, but she could almost still feel the cold metal cutting through her throat. She ran her hands through her hair and they came away sticky and red. Sayaka looked around at the carnage in the alley, trying to put out of mind the fact that it was all from her, then took a look at herself. Her school clothes were undamaged, but looked like they had been washed in a tub of blood. If her magic could take care of all of that, she didn't know how. She grimaced and quickly stripped bare before summoning her outfit. Given the choices of traveling in blood soaked clothes, running home naked, or sporting a bizarre fantasy costume, she figured the last one would draw the least attention.

Sayaka couldn't tell how her face looked, though she could feel the drying blood on it, but her legs were a mess and she could feel that her hair was matted together in places. Kyoko ran an appraising eye over her. "You'd better stay out of sight still, until we can get something to clean you up a little."

Sayaka nodded as she triple checked her ruined clothes to make sure there was nothing that could be linked to her, then tossed the bundle in a trash can. They were certain to be found, but as long as the events that transpired in this alley remained a mystery to ordinary people, it would just be another unsolved case to gather dust in the police files.

Kyoko took her hand, bringing her attention back to her. "Come on, Saya. Homura's looking for you, too. We need to find her, fast." Kyoko scanned their surroundings carefully, but Reiko was long gone. "There's no way that bitch can take all three of us. We'll find her and make her pay for this."

"Kyoko…" The redhead stopped. She didn't like that tone. "I don't want to kill her."

The redhead took a deep breath, but could feel her temper flaring beyond her control. "Are you out of your mind? She almost killed you!"

"I'm pretty well aware of that, thanks," Sayaka snapped back. "We have to deal with her, but…I don't think we should go after her just to kill her."

"Because she's one of us? Sayaka, she's a _**murderer**_. Didn't you used to say that you didn't become a Magical Girl just to fight Wraiths? That you'd fight evil wherever you found it?"

Sayaka's eyes flashed, warning her. "Yes."

Kyoko didn't take the hint. "So, what changed?"

"You!" Sayaka snapped, stunning Kyoko into silence. "You were one of those people that I was so sure was evil! When we first fought, I wanted to _kill_ you!" Kyoko had known this, had wanted the same thing at the time, but to have it thrown in her face like this dug a knife into her heart. But Sayaka wasn't finished.

"And then you showed me that people can change. That they deserve second chances." She took a step closer to Kyoko, who was having a hard time meeting her eyes, and her voice softened. "And you also gave me a second chance when I'd given up on life. Yes, Kyoko, I've changed. I'm not the stupid, self righteous kid I was when you met me. And I have to try for Reiko. I don't think she's a cold blooded killer…I think she's hurt, deep inside, and doesn't know how else to handle this life. Like I was. Like you were."

"Sayaka…" Kyoko finally looked her in the eye, and the pain that Sayaka saw made her heart twinge. "She almost killed you… We can't just ignore that."

"We're not going to. We'll deal with her. I just don't want to go after her with the sole intent of killing her."

She hated herself for tearing open that old wound of Kyoko's; she knew how much it tormented her that she had tried to kill Sayaka years ago. But she had to make her understand why she couldn't just kill Reiko, why she had to try to make her come around.

Kyoko swallowed past a lump in her throat, pushed all of the painful memories and emotions that Sayaka had just opened up into the corner of her mind, and took her hand again. "Look…we'll do what we have to, Sayaka. I can't promise anything. But right now, we need to find Homura before that psycho bitch does."

Sayaka nodded. "Any idea where she is?"

Kyoko held up her phone. She hesitated before calling Homura; when they hunted, they had an agreement not to call each other, so as not to distract anyone during a potentially life threatening fight. With Reiko around, it could be even more dangerous; for all she knew, Homura was tailing her and the sudden ringing of her phone could put her in danger.

She switched to the text option. 'Found Sayaka. Okay now but Reiko did a number on her. Near mall. Meet where?'

A moment later her phone buzzed. 'Where you met Sayaka the first time.'

Kyoko grinned. _Smart, not giving an exact location._ She turned to Sayaka. "We're meeting her in the alley where we fought years ago. Remember where it is?" With Sayaka's affirmation, they set off.

They were well out of the way. Reiko had really known what she was doing when she lured Sayaka away. Neither of them had really noticed how far they were straying from the populated areas of the city when they were rushing to the other's aid, but they were painfully aware of it now that they had to make the trip back under the constant fear of attack. This late in the evening, it would be a while before they were around a busy enough area to feel safe.

They hadn't gone far when Kyoko slowed to a stop and glanced sideways at her partner. "Stick to the shadows, Sayaka, and while you're there, keep an eye on my back. Reiko doesn't know you're still alive, but she's probably looking for me right now." Sayaka frowned, but relented. While part of her rebelled against the idea of being separated, she saw the wisdom in this and fell back, taking a moment to dismiss her white and highly noticeable cape before leaping out of sight.

While Kyoko moved through the alleys, heading from the outskirts back to the heavily trafficked parts of Mitakihara, Sayaka kept pace at a distance, staying in shadows and avoiding the open rooftops as much as she could. Balconies, fire escapes, air conditioning units…they kept her off the ground and below the roofs, and she had no trouble keeping up with Kyoko. Her mind still reeled with the awful finality of the situation: Reiko really did mean to kill them, and they might have to kill her to defend themselves.

She couldn't think about that, now. She had to keep an eye on Kyoko.

They reached a vacant lot in the middle of a set of low buildings, and Sayaka was just considering whether to drop to the ground or move along the roofs when a blur of purple caught her eye and set her heart pounding.

' _Behind you! Get down!'_

Kyoko didn't hesitate, didn't turn to look, just dropped into a roll that she came out of fully suited, spear in hand and facing the threat. Reiko's sickle passed harmlessly through the space where Kyoko's neck had been. Sayaka was already reaching for the magic to summon a sword when Kyoko interrupted her thoughts.

' _Stay where you are. Don't get involved unless you have to.'_

Sayaka hesitated but returned a nonverbal sense of agreement and melted into the shadows.

"Hey, Reiko. Tired of waiting for us to try to kill you, thought you'd kick things off?" Kyoko's tone was light, mocking, like it had been when she first fought Sayaka, but her girlfriend knew better. Beneath the surface, Kyoko's rage was threatening to explode.

' _Kyoko…don't do more than you have to.'_ The redhead didn't bother to respond.

Reiko didn't rise to the bait, but shifted her weight back and forth, always moving, unpredictable. "I told you what would happen. You should have heeded my warning."

Kyoko spun her spear before leveling the point at her opponent. "Yeah, yeah, it's our fault for not caving to your ridiculous demands. Whatever helps you sleep. Look, I wouldn't have a problem with killing you here and now, but Sayaka wanted to give you a chance. So, for her sake, I'm going to let this drop if you leave now. Get out of Mitakihara, and don't come back."

"Kyoko…Sayaka is dead." Her tone was neutral. She wasn't trying to provoke Kyoko, simply stating something she thought the girl should know. There was something else there, as well…a tinge of regret.

Kyoko's grip on her spear tightened until Sayaka could see her knuckles turn white, but she didn't move. _'I'm sorry, baby. Don't hate me for this.'_

' _Kyoko, don't!'_

But the redhead still didn't move. A sneer spread across her face. "Yeah, I found her. So?" The words struck Sayaka like a physical blow and, if her suddenly stock still posture was any indication, Reiko was taken aback as well. "She was cute, and pretty good in bed, but I have others. Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed about it, but getting revenge for her isn't worth risking my life over."

As she went on, Sayaka slowly started to understand: Kyoko was bluffing. Pretending not to care was the only way to back away from the fight without letting Reiko know that she was still alive.

Still…the words hurt.

The seconds ticked by in dead silence. Then Reiko raised her head and called, "Sayaka, I am going to kill Kyoko within the next two minutes. You can come out from wherever you're hiding to try to stop me, or you can stay there and watch."

Sayaka recoiled in shock; to Kyoko's credit, she didn't let any surprise show on her face. "Let's see you try it, bitch," she snarled.

And, without any clear shift from talking to fighting, they had suddenly closed and were slashing at each other with near inhuman speed.

Kyoko's spear came apart as Reiko ran at her and she swung it at the girl's midsection, the segmented weapon gaining additional reach and momentum, but Reiko jumped nimbly over it and Kyoko barely had enough time to return it to its normal configuration before Reiko was on her. At this range, Reiko had the advantage with her small, nimble weapon. And she was fast. Maybe faster than anyone Kyoko had ever seen. But she wasn't helpless. She blocked every slash and, unable to gain enough space to attack with her spear, kicked out at her opponent. The unexpected move almost took Reiko by surprise, but she leapt back and Kyoko's foot swung through empty air instead of breaking Reiko's hip. Before she could counter, Kyoko used her spear to regain her balance and also retreated a safe distance.

Sayaka couldn't breathe, her fear for Kyoko's safety clashing with her own self preservation instincts; the memories of Reiko's kama piercing her back and cutting her throat were all too vivid.

Sayaka had never been able to match Kyoko for speed, and the redhead nearly always won their sparring matches. Reiko was even faster than Kyoko, but Kyoko's sheer ferocity leveled the playing field somewhat. With Kyoko wielding a polearm and Reiko a small hand weapon, the fight would be determined by whether Kyoko could keep her at a distance, whether Reiko could slip past her defenses.

The first exchange of blows hadn't resulted in any gain for either of them. Kyoko was impressed. The girl was fast. Not fast enough, but this would not be an easy fight. Now that the time had come, her body hummed with the thrill of battle. It had been a long time since she had fought another Puella Magi, and a small, dark part of her enjoyed it. She took a moment to size up her opponent while there was some distance between them. Kyoko was at a disadvantage: Reiko had watched her fight who knew how many battles against the wraiths, and she had never seen Reiko fight, had only Sayaka's limited description to go on.

But there was one thing that she was certain Reiko didn't know about, something even Sayaka hadn't seen, something that she hadn't done in a long time. The thought of this ace in her sleeve gave her confidence, but she was fairly certain that she could beat Reiko without using it.

Disarming her would be useless. Any of them could dispel and resummon their weapons at will. But she had a plan.

Reiko closed the gap between them with a speed that surprised Kyoko, and she was barely able to raise her spear in time to block. The shaft of her spear cracked against the kama's handle, but the long, curved blade stabbed into her shoulder all the same. She hissed in pain, but the close contact of their weapons provided her an opening. The other Magical Girl saw a flash of fangs bared in a cruel grin before the spear split into a multitude of chained segments that wrapped themselves around her right arm, doubling her forearm up against her bicep and effectively rendering her helpless. The point of the spear raised to her throat, poised and ready like an angry snake. Reiko ceased her attempts to free herself from the chain and watched the spearhead warily.

"Got your attention now? This is your last chance. Get—"

A silver blur shot up towards her face as Sayaka screamed warning filled her mind. She stumbled back a half step on instinct, and an instant later everything was dark.

The shriek made Sayaka's skin prickle. She couldn't see what had happened, only that another weapon had appeared in Reiko's unbound left hand and she had slashed at Kyoko. Now the redhead was reeling away, clutching at her face and howling. She swung her spear around futilely in an effort to keep the other girl at bay, but Reiko easily dodged it and slashed her leg. Kyoko fell, cursing and still lashing out, but the girl pulled her head back by the hair to expose the ruby at her breastbone and raised one of her kamas to deliver the final blow.

Sayaka rammed her shoulder into Reiko, sword held parallel to her body, and felt the blade pierce flesh. Then, just as she experienced a grim sense of triumph, her sword was loose again and she stumbled, overbalanced. Something cracked against the back of her head and she fell, blinded by an explosion of stars. Even dazed from the blow, she managed to turn her fall into a roll that took her away from the girl and brought her back to her feet.

The hostile Magical Girl didn't follow. A hand was pressed against her side, and her outfit wasn't dark enough to disguise the red stain spreading across her hip. She had turned just as Sayaka crashed into her and, instead of impaling her, the sword had merely cut a gash in her belly that was deep but not a game ender.

Sayaka circled around to bring herself closer to Kyoko, who was just climbing back to her feet, and spared a quick glance to take in her state. At first she couldn't tell where she had been injured because of the blood covering Kyoko's face…and then an iron fist squeezed Sayaka's heart.

"Oh my God…oh my God, Kyoko, your eye!"

"It'll grow back," she snarled.

Kyoko's right eyelid was squeezed shut, but a thin gash split the lids up the middle…and the eye beneath.

"I should have listened to my instincts and made certain that you were dead. I will not make the same mistake again." The words chilled Sayaka to the bone, but a seething rage began to build in her. She hadn't felt anger like this in years. What Reiko had done to her she could move past, but the intruder had almost killed Kyoko now.

The girl stood calmly, facing them with a kama in each hand now. She had never used more than one while fighting Sayaka. It had never occurred to her that she might be skilled in fighting with two, or even that she might be ambidextrous. That lapse had cost Kyoko.

"We didn't want this, Reiko! You're the only one pushing us towards a fight!" She didn't react to Sayaka's accusation in any way; she watched them like a cat watches its prey, judging when to strike.

"Don't bother, Sayaka. She didn't listen to reason when she was willing to talk, and whatever she had in her that kept a level head on her shoulders has gone bye bye."

' _This is as serious as it gets, Sayaka,'_ she continued mentally. _'We can't afford to take chances with her. When you fight, fight to kill.'_

' _I know. Now, I know. We'll…do what we have to.'_

They put a few feet of space between them and hefted their weapons. Sayaka felt a measure of peace now that Kyoko was here with her. Whatever happened, at least they would face it together.

They started running at the same time, charging across the lot to their resolute foe. Reiko stood her ground; the only change in her stance was that she raised both of her weapons and redistributed her weight so that she could move quickly. When they were only a few yards from her, Kyoko and Sayaka suddenly veered towards each other. Kyoko crossed in front of her partner for a brief moment, and as soon as she had passed, Sayaka's sword was hurtling towards Reiko's surprised face. She swatted it aside and it faded into nothingness, but that split second distraction was all Kyoko needed.

Her spear drove towards the girl's ribcage, but, as she had when Sayaka attacked her, Reiko managed to turn just in time so that the spear tip scored a deep gash along her ribs instead of smashing through them. Kyoko was left open, but before Reiko could take advantage of it Sayaka was on her. She flipped her kamas around and crossed the blades above her head to catch the sword in their crux, then, with a deft twist, snapped the blade. Sayaka fell back to give herself time to summon a fresh sword, and Kyoko had gained enough space to sweep her weapon at Reiko's midsection.

This was going more poorly than she had expected. Even as she leapt over the spear and landed a kick on Kyoko's collarbone that narrowly missed her Soul Gem, Reiko realized that she was in trouble. She had watched them fight, but the level of coordination between them was startling. She silently cursed herself for leaving any chance that Sayaka could have survived. This time, if the girl somehow managed to hide her Gem again, Reiko would cut her body to shreds before tearing the lot apart to find it.

The situation was undesirable, but Reiko wasn't overly concerned. If the other two were in peak condition, she might have been in trouble.

But the red jewel set against Kyoko's sternum had become clouded and dull, and, even though Sayaka's gem was mostly hidden, the glimpses Reiko had caught confirmed that it was nearly depleted.

Her own Soul Gem shone brightly in the dark.

If it came to attrition, she would win. All she needed to do was fend them off for the time being. The only concern was that the third girl might be coming. The faster she made them expend their magic, the better.

They didn't even need to look at each other to know where they'd be; Kyoko and Sayaka attacked like they had choreographed their moves—benefits of fighting together for three years. Kyoko dropped to one knee and whipped her spear at Reiko's legs while Sayaka sprang into the air and kicked off of a wall to launch herself at her opponent's head.

And she wasn't there. It had been so fast that she had barely been able to see it, but Reiko took a single step forward, past the head of Kyoko's spear, and stopped the shaft with her foot. Sayaka was no longer hurtling towards Reiko, she was passing over her, and there was an awful slowness to the whole thing as she felt the curved blade slide into her belly, barely missing her Gem. Her momentum did the rest. Sayaka crashed to the ground and rolled, leaving a slick trail of blood. She felt something else spill from the gash in her abdomen and hysteria threatened to overwhelm her.

 _No, no no no don't look. Just heal it and get back on your feet…_

Kyoko's stomach turned as she saw Sayaka's innards spill out, but, for her girlfriend, it was only a moderately severe injury. With Reiko's foot still on the shaft of her spear, Kyoko let the weapon break into its segments and wrap around her leg. A sharp yank pulled her to the ground and the spear uncoiled from her leg to snap back into place as a whole weapon.

Kyoko took a step forward to get a better vantage and drove her spear at the Gem set against Reiko's forehead. Before she could end this fight, Reiko's foot connected with her knee and her leg bent at an angle that was normally impossible. She collapsed forward, falling on top of her enemy. Kyoko recognized with numb horror the danger that this put her in an instant before she felt the blades pierce her chest and side.

She shut down as much of the pain as she could and clamped her hands around Reiko's wrists so she couldn't pull the kamas out to stab her again. Kyoko whipped her head back and then slammed her forehead into Reiko's face with as much force as she could muster. Her opponent turned her head just before the blow landed, and there was a satisfying crunch as her cheekbone broke.

The vindictive pleasure that Kyoko felt was short lived; the curved blades in her abdomen twisted and, even with most of her pain dulled, she felt it. Her grip slackened, and Reiko got her legs between them and launched Kyoko across the lot.

Reiko was on her feet again in an instant, stumbled as the bones in her cheek ground against each other, and turned to where Sayaka had landed, fully intending to finish her before Kyoko recovered. But the blue haired girl was gone.

The Magical Girl moved swiftly to where the blood had pooled on the ground and swept her gaze around the area, expecting to see Sayaka attempting to crawl away. There was nothing, not even a trail of blood to follow. The implications made her mind reel.

Sayaka had been partially eviscerated. The wound should have crippled her for a few minutes, at the very least. Clues started to fall into place and Reiko understood now how Sayaka had not only survived their earlier encounter, but recovered so quickly. A few seconds after she arrived at the conclusion that Sayaka had healing based magic, she wondered if it only applied to herself, or to others as well.

* * *

' _Don't! You don't have any magic left!'_

While Reiko was searching the place that she had been, Sayaka skidded to a halt next to Kyoko and placed her hands on her shattered knee, willing it to heal as she had willed her own torn belly to heal only moments before. It was hard, much harder, to heal someone else, and the injury was far more complicated.

' _I can't beat her, and you can't fight with a broken leg…this is the only chance we have…'_

Dark emotions boiled up inside of her as her Soul Gem lost what purity had remained and corruption rushed to fill the void. She crushed it down with the importance of what she was doing; she had to stay strong and finish healing Kyoko's leg, and that one driving motive was enough to clear her mind and fight off the effects of a dark Soul Gem. In seconds, Kyoko's kneecap had slid back into place and the torn ligaments stitched themselves back together.

Blood spattered Kyoko's face. There was already so much blood everywhere that it was several seconds before she saw twin metal points sticking out of Sayaka's chest. The blunette swayed, and when the kamas vanished and blood started flowing freely from the wounds, she collapsed on top of Kyoko.

Fear and grief and _hatred_ overwhelmed Kyoko, but there was no time for that. She pushed Sayaka aside and fixed her eye on Reiko, closing the distance between them rapidly, almost upon her now.

She spared half a second to glance at the dull red Gem on her chest and gauge how much energy she had left.

Enough.

* * *

She had realized too late to stop Sayaka from healing Kyoko, but now Reiko was certain that the girl was down for the fight. She had started with so little magic left, it had to be gone now.

It was over. The two had fought even more fiercely than anticipated, but she had won. Kyoko was still injured, had far less magic in reserve than her, and couldn't win through skill alone.

The redhead sprang to her feet and Reiko readied herself to slip past her guard and end this, but the girl didn't move. Reiko saw her lips form words, heard something she couldn't understand over her own pounding feet. She raised her kamas as a flash of red light momentarily dazzled her—

—and five Kyokos lunged to meet her.

* * *

It had been a long time. After losing her family, she had also lost her signature ability. Kyubey had said something about her rejecting her wish, that that had rendered her unable to use all but the most basic magic that all of the Puella Magi could access.

Sayaka had given her life purpose again. Even if her wish no longer affected anything, she had a reason to carry out her duties as a Magical Girl beyond continuing her own life.

Doors that had been closed for a long time had begun to open again.

"Rosso Fantasma!"

Five of her spread out. Five of her lunged at Reiko. Only one of them had any actual presence, and only one could actually hurt Reiko, but to her target, it would feel like all of them could for as long as she maintained the illusion.

Reiko reacted predictably by stumbling backwards, eyes wide with shock, and tried feebly to defend herself against the phantoms. Kyoko moved in for the kill and, while Reiko was trying to block three other attacks, stabbed her in the thigh. She staggered and Kyoko pressed her advantage.

It was so fast that she barely had time to notice it. The blade bit into her left cheek, cleaved right through the bone, and would have split her head in two if the shaft of her spear hadn't been in the path of the kama's handle. The phantoms vanished and Kyoko dropped like a stone. Reiko's weapon went down with her, stuck in her face, and vanished a moment later.

"Illusions…I should have guessed after you saw me on that night when I watched the two of you hunting Wraiths. My magic isn't effective against you." Reiko summoned a fresh kama. "But that works both ways."

She had wasted most of her remaining magic on an attack that had been entirely ineffective. It was over. Homura was out looking for them, could perhaps avenge them, but wouldn't find them in time to make a difference.

She would die, Sayaka would die, and it was because she wasn't strong enough.

Kyoko's outfit vanished, leaving her beloved green hoodie to get soaked through with blood. So hard to see…one eye slashed apart, the other affected by the devastating cut just beneath it. She tried to pull herself along the ground towards Sayaka.

' _Kyoko?'_

She froze. For a heartbeat she thought it might have been a trick by Reiko, but hadn't she just demonstrated that their illusions didn't work on each other? And there was no reason to trick her at this point, anyway. Wherever Homura was, she had finally gotten close enough to make mental contact.

' _Homura!_ _ **HELP!**_ _'_

' _Where are you?!'_

Kyoko started crawling towards Sayaka again as she heard Reiko approach, trying to buy herself time. As she moved, she sent a mental image of the location.

' _Kyoko, I…I don't know where that is.'_

She ground her teeth together, fighting the urge to lash out at Homura. Wasn't the other girl's fault that the image was vague and could be anywhere in the city. _'East side Mitakihara, not too far from the warehouses.'_

' _Okay. I can be there in five minutes. I should be able to narrow in on your location from there. Just hold on, Kyoko.'_

Her heart sank. Too long…much too long to save them. _'It's too late, Homura. Sayaka's—'_ Her mind recoiled in horror, unable to finish the thought. _'She's hurt bad. So am I. We'll be dead by the time you get here. Just…just make sure you kill this bitch for us. And be careful…she uses illusions.'_

Homura didn't respond right away, no doubt trying to come to terms with the situation. _'It's not your fault, Homes. Just come as soon as you can and finish her off. See you on the other side.'_

' _Kyoko…don't give up yet.'_

The footsteps, slow and cautious, finally caught up with her, stopped just behind her. No…it was over. Any moment now, Reiko would split her skull open, or just behead her.

…

No. She couldn't give up. For Sayaka's sake, she had to try.

There was…maybe…one last chance. A slim hope…

* * *

Not for the first time, Homura cursed the loss of her shield, with its time freezing ability and potentially unlimited storage space for explosives and guns. She could have gotten there as soon as Kyoko thought of the location and put a magnum round straight through Reiko's Soul Gem.

 _Madoka…you wanted peace and hope for the Magical Girls. But not all of us are willing to accept it. Why? Why don't you do something? Your best friend is going to be killed! Why don't—_

She gritted her teeth and pushed herself harder. Undoubtedly for the same reason that she didn't just kill all of the Wraiths every time they appeared, or cleanse their Soul Gems periodically. Even as a god who had remade the universe, she was bound by rules. And she seemed to be trapped by a hands off policy. It was up to the girls to make the best of the chance she had given them.

Homura ached to see her again, to hold her. Knowing the pain of that loss gave her the drive to move through the city faster than she ever had before.

Sayaka and Kyoko were each facing that same loss, and she did not know if she could spare them from that. But if she was too late to save her friends, she could at least avenge them.

* * *

Kyoko collapsed and feebly rolled onto her side. Her remaining eye fixed on Reiko as she approached, but she couldn't move. Reiko had been surprised when four more of her enemy had appeared and attacked her, and her shock had allowed Kyoko to injure her leg, but it took only seconds to see the illusions for what they were. Now it was over.

"Wait…let me…be with her…at the end."

Reiko saw Kyoko's Soul Gem in its full form in her hand, fingers clutching weakly at it like she would be able to shield it. The gem was dark now, a swirling black mist at its heart. She was finished. But Reiko wasn't willing to chance it.

"I'm sorry, Kyoko. I really am. But I can't take the risk that you might have something else planned."

"Then just…let her live. She's no match…can't be a threat…"

"I can't do that. I warned you." Reiko crouched next to Kyoko, weapons at the ready in case she tried anything. "And if you're trying to stall long enough for the other one to get here, it won't work. Goodbye, Kyoko."

Kyoko held her Soul Gem up to Reiko. "Yeah, fuck you, too."

She frowned, perplexed by the returned strength in Kyoko's voice and the way that she offered her Soul Gem for destruction. Determined to finish this before anything else happened, Reiko raised her kama to smash the gem—

She felt the blow just below her navel and was aware of a wet cracking noise at the same moment that her legs went dead. No longer able to support herself, she started to topple over and grasped the spear shaft to hold herself upright. Her dropped kama clattered on the ground and vanished. Reiko blinked, stared at the spear that had materialized directly from the Soul Gem, trying to comprehend what had happened, and raised a hand towards Kyoko. Like a snake striking, the spear sprang around her and bound her tightly, the linked segments looping around her chest, under her arms, between her legs, until she was imprisoned in a steel web. There was a sharp pain in her upper back and she lost feeling of everything below it just before the triangular head burst through her chest amid a horrible crack and spray of blood.

Their eyes met, Kyoko's one good eye full of hatred and savage triumph, Reiko's eyes confused, as though she still wasn't sure what had happened. The spear head twisted ninety degrees. As it was completely out of her body, she hardly felt a thing.

Then Kyoko retracted her spear.

Unable to pull back through the wound it had created, the spearhead dug painfully into her chest. The segments of the spear tightened around her as they tried to pull back into one solid shaft, and Reiko's dazed mind realized what was going to happen an instant before it did.

There was a horrible cacophony as bones all around her body snapped, then a wet crunch and spray of gore as the spearhead finally tore back through her chest and sliced into her flesh along the path that the chain had laid out around her body before ripping through the first wound and disappearing back into Kyoko's Soul Gem. The Gem turned back into a ring and Kyoko let her arm fall.

What was left of Reiko hit the ground with a wet thud.

Kyoko pressed one hand against her split cheek and the other to the hole in her chest, doing little to staunch the bleeding from either wound. She had so little magic left…but Homura would be here soon.

 _Sayaka!_

In the wake of her triumph, she had forgotten for a moment the condition that her love was in. Kyoko rolled back onto her stomach and tried to stand. Too much blood lost, too lightheaded…she settled for crawling over to the ragged blue mess and turned her over with a trembling hand, terror seizing her heart as she waited to see.

The bleeding had stopped, and the rise and fall of her bloodied chest and the faintest glint of blue in the gem set against her navel told Kyoko all she needed to know. She let out a choked sob and finally let herself collapse, the knowledge that Sayaka would live robbing her of the drive to keep going.

They would both live. Barely. But long enough for Homura to help.

A strangled gurgle stopped her heart. Kyoko turned her head slowly to look at her defeated opponent and saw her arm rise a few inches before falling back to the ground.

 _Unbelievable._

She was still alive.

Kyoko set her jaw in a defiant grimace and pushed herself up onto her elbows again. It took nearly a minute to drag herself back over to Reiko. When she reached her, she was surprised to find that the girl was conscious. Her ribcage split wide open, her spine severed in two places, arms and legs broken, but still conscious. The wounds she had suffered would have been instantly fatal to any human; her body held itself together purely through magic.

She reached out with shaky fingers and plucked the Soul Gem from Reiko's brow. Anger bubbled up inside of her, spurred on by the memory of the terror she had felt when Reiko's thrown kamas had pierced Sayaka's back, and she held the jewel in front of those wide, purple eyes.

She should have crushed the gem right then. She wasn't entirely sure why she didn't. But something held her back. Instead, she spoke to the girl.

"…Sayaka would want me to let you live, you know. Even after all of this, I think she would want us to let you go. She thinks everyone deserves a chance to change." Kyoko's voice cracked and her own shameful memories forced themselves upon her again. "Hell, she might be on to something. She changed me. I used to be like…well, not like _you_. But I used to think only about myself and I fought to kill anyone who challenged me.

"I'm not…I'm not that person anymore. She makes me better than that. But you… _you_ almost took her away from me." She shook her head, bitterness and disgust filling her head. "We never did anything to you…never _would have_ done anything to you… Why—" Kyoko fell silent as a sickening thought entered her mind, but the more she considered it, the more sense it made.

"I didn't have a lot of time to think, during the fighting, but some part of me wondered…why you were so much better than me. You're fast, but so am I. You're skilled with those blades, but I'm skilled with my spear. It should have been closer, but it was like you knew how to exploit every opening, every weakness. And I think I get it now. It's because I wasn't used to fighting another Puella. I've fought some in the past, killed a few, even, but all of my combat expertise comes from fighting Wraiths. And fighting a Wraith is totally different from fighting another Puella Magi.

"But you knew exactly what you were doing. It comes naturally to you, doesn't it? I think I know why. You don't hunt Wraiths." Her hand tightened around Reiko's Soul Gem, and she spat the next words out. "You hunt other Magical Girls."

' _No…no. Only ever…self defense.'_

Kyoko twitched in surprise, but, given the state of Reiko's body, it was no wonder she was resorting to telepathy to speak. "Save it. You can tell yourself whatever you want to feel better about it, but I know. How many have you killed, Reiko? How many of them actually attacked you first?"

Silence. She shook her head in disgust. "Sayaka's right…you don't even realize how fucked in the head you are, and you think you're doing this because you don't have a choice." Kyoko's fingers wrapped around the Soul Gem and she held the closed fist up in front of Reiko's eyes. "Well…neither do I."

As panic bloomed in those pretty purple eyes, Kyoko squeezed. The magically reinforced gemstone was only able to hold for a second under her strength before shattering. Crystalline shards gouged the skin on her palm, the last injury Reiko would ever inflict on anyone.

The light went out of Reiko's eyes.

Kyoko stared down at the empty shell for a long time, then summoned what tiny reserve of strength she had left and dragged herself back over to Sayaka, just barely managing to reach her before collapsing.

* * *

' _Kyoko!'_

She opened her good eye. "Huh…?" It took several moments for her to realize that the voice was in her head. _'Homura?'_

' _At last. I've been trying to contact you and Sayaka for the past six minutes. I feared that you had been killed.'_

She managed a weak chuckle, even though there was no one to hear it. _'Need to have more faith in me than that.'_

' _I'm still looking. Where are you?'_

Kyoko forced herself to recall the path they had taken to reach here, as much as she could remember. Her head was fuzzy, but at least no one was trying to kill her at the moment. She sent as much as she could to Homura.

' _I've got it. Stay there. I'll come to you.'_

Another laugh, stronger than the first, shook Kyoko. It hurt, but she couldn't stop it. _'Fine, if you insist…'_

* * *

Homura leapt from rooftop to rooftop, moving quickly now that she had a more precise location. She had had the warehouses for a starting point, but Kyoko had neglected to tell her which side of the warehouses they were on, and there had been a lot of ground to cover in her ever widening search.

She saw the lot that Kyoko had indicated and pushed herself to go as fast as she could. Even from a distance, even in the dead of night, she could see signs of the battle, and the sheer ferocity of it stunned her.

There. She could see three shapes huddled on the ground in the gloom, not far from each other. In moments, she could see clearly what was on the ground.

"…Holy shit."

* * *

A/N: And that's the climax of this story. Pretty huge chapter, but it couldn't be broken down. This is my first time writing an extensive combat scene; I put a lot of thought into it and I hope it turned out well.

The last chapter will be posted next Wednesday; I didn't plan it this way, but I like the idea of closing this story right at the end of the year. Until then, enjoy.

Thanks for reading. And Merry Christmas, everyone.


	9. Chapter 9

She was warm, and lying somewhere soft, but the first light of consciousness brought with it pain. She tried to open her eyes; only one of them responded. The world was blurry at first, but slowly came into focus. The sight that greeted her brought a smile to her lips.

Sayaka was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her with a trembling smile and tears in her eyes.

"Hey, kid…how ya doing?"

"A lot better than you," Sayaka said, wiping at her eyes. "You're still healing. She…that girl really hurt you bad."

Kyoko chuckled, but stopped with a wince. "You shoulda seen what I did to her…" She looked around the unfamiliar room. "Where…?"

"Homura's place. I brought you back here right away."

"You?"

Sayaka smiled feebly. "Accelerated healing, remember? Just like when you found me last night. All Homura had to do was bring Grief Cubes and I was on my feet in no time. We had to get out of there, too. It was a mess, and I think someone called the cops because they were almost there when we left." She kneaded her forehead with one hand. "Homura took Reiko's body to, uh…dispose of it. I don't know what she did, but I don't think the police found her. So there's a lot of blood everywhere, but no body. Not much for them to go on. I think…I think we'll be okay."

Kyoko looked around, but couldn't see a clock. "How long was I out?"

"Not long. Just the rest of the night and most of the morning. It's almost noon, I think."

The redhead gingerly propped herself up on her elbows and tilted her head at Sayaka. "What about school?"

Sayaka shrugged. "Fuck it."

Kyoko stared at her. "You're just skipping it? You kept saying that it was so important that you went every day."

The blunette shook her head vehemently. "I don't care about that. I'm not leaving your side until you're better."

Affection surged up in Kyoko's heart and made it difficult to speak. She held her arms out and Sayaka obliged by climbing into bed with her and carefully positioning herself next to her lover. Kyoko laid her head on Sayaka's chest and closed her eye.

"Let's just…stay like this for a little while."

* * *

It took the rest of the day for her injuries to fully heal. Sayaka didn't leave her side until Kyoko was able to stand, and then had hurried home to limit the damage with her parents. As soon as she was gone, Kyoko had had to fight down an unexpected sense of anxiety. Reiko was dead, she had to remind herself. Sayaka wasn't in danger anymore.

The redhead brushed her fingers over her cheek, which had finally returned to its normal shape, and rubbed at her right eye. Everything was good as new. It was time to head out at last. Even though it had been less than a day, she was already feeling an overwhelming urge to leave Homura's apartment.

She couldn't go without having a few words with her host, though. She found the ravenette in the living room and cleared her throat to get her attention.

"Homura…thanks. You saved us. I owe you a lot."

The enigmatic girl only gave a single nod. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there to help with the fight. Reiko would have folded between the three of us, and the two of you would have been spared a great deal of suffering."

The redhead shrugged. "It worked out. Any fight you can walk away from, right?" She leaned against the door jamb and surveyed Homura with an inscrutable expression. "Look…since you saved us, I'll let it go this time." She leaned in close with a dangerous glint in her eye. "But if you ever get me in trouble with Sayaka like that again, I'll break your face."

Far from being intimidated, Homura smiled. "The opportunity was perfect. Had you been in my place, you would have done the same."

For a moment, it looked like Kyoko was going to change her mind and hit Homura. Then a big grin spread across her face and she started laughing. "I wish you had taken a picture of the look on her face. It must have been priceless!" As her sudden outburst of good humor quieted, she shot another glare at Homura that was rendered useless by the smile that kept tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Seriously, don't do that again."

"I take it this means I will no longer have to listen to you boasting about your sexual exploits?"

"Course you will! Who else am I going to tell?"

Homura slowly shook her head, but a tiny smile touched her lips. "Well, I suppose you have nothing to worry about on that account. It would only be amusing the first time."

Kyoko rolled her eyes as she turned to go. "Jesus, Homes, you need better ways to entertain yourself. We have got to find you a girlfriend."

* * *

Sayaka had had a lot of explaining to do with her parents, and Kyoko didn't know exactly how she had handled it, but the end result was that she was grounded for the next two weeks.

Going to see Kyoko while she was grounded was obviously out of the question, which was why Kyoko had snuck in through the window again and now lay on Sayaka's bed with her lover.

They had nearly lost each other not two days previously. They were not going to be separated now.

Sayaka lay with her head against Kyoko's belly while the redhead idly stroked her hair, both of them lost in thought and rarely speaking. Kyoko didn't mind. Just lying together like this was nice. And, whatever was distracting Sayaka, Kyoko had plenty on her mind as well. Part of her was delighted that her girlfriend was willing to accept such burdens as trouble with school and her parents in order to stay by her side. Another part of her…

Kyoko didn't dwell on the past; she buried it. If she made what even she couldn't deny was a mistake, she learned from it and moved on. When memories of her family rose, she crushed them back down into the dark corners of her psyche, unaware of or indifferent to the harm that it was doing to her.

But there was one thing she couldn't get over, that made her shudder with revulsion every time she thought of it.

If Homura and Mami hadn't intervened three years before, she would have killed Sayaka when they first clashed, and thought no more of it than when she crushed Reiko's Soul Gem. Now the thought of losing her terrified Kyoko. Sayaka had put that issue to rest a long time ago and now both loved her and trusted her completely…but Kyoko couldn't silence that mote of self doubt that told her she didn't deserve that love, that she had been ready to kill her and would have lost something precious beyond measure without even realizing it.

That part of her that told her she didn't deserve Sayaka recognized a truth that she didn't want to accept: that she wasn't so far removed from Reiko as she would have liked to believe. She had killed girls before, sometimes in self defense, sometimes in fights she had provoked.

But the rest of her understood that, whether or not Kyoko deserved her, Sayaka had chosen her to love, and she made Kyoko a better person. And she had almost lost her to Reiko…the fear that had gripped her heart years ago when she had seen the smoke coming from her house had returned, and with it the understanding that if she lost Sayaka, she could not and would not go on. She could not return to the hard hearted, hateful girl that she had been three years ago.

Whatever it took, whatever she had to sacrifice, even if it was her own life, she would protect Sayaka.

She shook herself out of it. They had been quiet for a long time, but, despite the cozy atmosphere, Kyoko could feel the tension in Sayaka, and noticed that it wasn't diminishing as time went by.

"What's on your mind, babe?" she finally asked. Sayaka started a little at the sudden intrusion into her thoughts.

"Just thinking about…" She sighed. " _Everything._ "

It was to be expected. They had both been through the wringer, and while Kyoko had had some experience with this kind of situation, it was new to Sayaka. The closest she had come had been their ill conceived duel three years previously, and Mami had stopped that before it had gotten anywhere near this level of brutality.

"We did what we had to, Saya," she said gently. "She left us no choice. You tried harder than anyone to end this peacefully, so don't beat yourself up over how it turned out."

"I know. It doesn't make it any easier." They lapsed into an uneasy silence, but this one didn't last long.

"Kyoko…are most Magical Girls like her?"

"No. I've met all kinds. Girls like you and Mami, who want to help people. A lot who just wanted to get by. A few sadists who were too happy to have these powers. Reiko wasn't any of those. She was a killer, but she didn't like what she did." Kyoko shuddered. "I think you were right. There was something in her that was broken."

Sayaka hadn't once brought up whether or not it had been necessary to kill her. Kyoko had saved them; that was what mattered. And she realized that, as damaged as Reiko had been, it was for the best. She would claim no more victims.

But her mind kept going back to the girl, to the regret and pain she saw in her eyes, and she couldn't help but feel that if she had tried harder she could have reached the part of Reiko that didn't want to kill anyone. Now, because Sayaka hadn't been able to, she was dead.

Even worse, she was gripped by a lingering fear about what would happen the next time a new Magical Girl showed up.

 _No… We can't let ourselves become like her. We can't let what happened here do the same to us that…whatever happened in her past did to her._

She took a deep breath, memories of the terror still sharp. _We have to be better than that._

"Anyway…" Sayaka shook her head and sat up, to Kyoko's slight dismay. "That's only part of it. I've been thinking about a lot of things." She turned to look Kyoko in the eye, her expression inscrutable. "I've always known that we could die from this—probably will die. But I guess it just never really sunk in until now." She took a deep but shaky breath. "And it made me realize how much I take for granted, and what's really important."

Kyoko didn't know whether this was leading somewhere good or bad and tried to keep the anxiety from showing on her face.

The blunette took another deep breath, composed herself, and looked Kyoko in the eyes. "I love you, Sakura Kyoko. With all my heart. And I'm not wasting any more of the time we have left by sneaking around and pretending." She took Kyoko's hands in her own, and the redhead felt a thrill course through her at the touch. "I'm going to tell my parents about us. I'll make them understand. And then…I want to live with you."

There were tears in Kyoko's eyes and, even more unusual, she didn't try to hide them. She had wanted this for a long time. It meant as much to her as the first time Sayaka had said "I love you."

She just wished the circumstances that brought about this change had been less horrible.

Kyoko pulled her into a tight hug and Sayaka hugged her back with all of the tenderness she could muster. The older girl finally wiped her eyes. "I love you too, Sayaka. Don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you."

"Avenged me, I would hope," she said with a soft smile, drawing a chuckle out of Kyoko.

They parted, and this time Kyoko took Sayaka's hands. "I would—" Her voice sounded hoarse. She cleared her throat and started again. "I would love to live with you, Miki Sayaka. Nothing would make me happier. There's just one problem with this idea." The blunette's expression fell a little. "How can you move in with me when I don't live anywhere?"

"Oh, that. That's easy. You'll just have to get a job and rent an apartment."

Kyoko stiffened. Sayaka found herself the target of a glare that would make anyone else cringe. She smiled sweetly.

"So the only way we can live together is if I get a job?"

"Mnhm!"

"That's extortion and you're evil."

Sayaka cuddled up against her and closed her eyes. "Had to happen sooner or later." As Kyoko's huffy silence drew on, Sayaka patted her arm. "Don't worry too much about it…my parents might help out if they like you enough. But whatever happens…we'll make it work. I don't…" She swallowed hard. "I don't know how much time we might have left together, and I'm not wasting any more of it.

"I don't care who knows. I don't care what everyone at school might say. You're more important than all of that."

Kyoko nodded and squeezed Sayaka against her, throat too tight for her to say anything. In spite of it all—the trauma of their encounter with Reiko, the violence in Kyoko's past, the attempt to kill Sayaka when they first met—in spite of it all…Sayaka loved her just as much as Kyoko loved Sayaka, and wanted to spend whatever life was left to them together.

And even all of the pain and terror that they had gone through over the past week couldn't do much to mar this. It confirmed something that Kyoko had been thinking about for a while now, but had been too fearful to voice and too pessimistic to believe.

She had a family again.

And she would fight Hell itself to keep it safe.

 **The End**

* * *

A/N: Now my longest story is complete, just in time for the end of the year. A little sappy there at the end, maybe, but I figure those two deserve some happiness after all they've gone through.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. It was a lot of fun to come up with and write, but also very frustrating to get the kinks worked out. I don't even remember when I started writing it, but it's been a while. Please review it; I'd like to know what you liked, what you didn't like, what I could do better or differently. As for my other works, I might have some more stories for Rigors before I close that one, but I don't have any other ideas for full length stories like this one, so I don't know when I'll post again.

That's all from me. Happy New Year.


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